


A Bird With Broken Wings

by kittyface27



Series: Crossovers [3]
Category: One Piece, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Ace does his best, Angst, Character Development, Depression, Gen, Hawks is hilarious, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Luffy goes through a lot, Multiple Arcs, Mystery, Overpowered Quirk, Past Child Abuse, Plot Twists, Quirk Lore, Quirk Removal, Self Harm, Torture, Violence, a lot of shit happens, as in 201000 words long, brief time with the straw hat characters, but also cares about others, hateful Luffy, hawks takes in Luffy, long lost brother, made up quirk conditions, nomus are terrible, overpowered luffy, possible out of character hawks, quirk surgery, the vinsmokes are shit heads who get what they deserve, very long story, why does everything happen to Luffy, winged Luffy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-05
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:09:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 59,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27891310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittyface27/pseuds/kittyface27
Summary: Luffy always hated himself for his quirk. He hated everyone because of it. And even when he finds a loving home with somebody who actually cares for him, his quirk continues to wreck his life. Trauma after trauma haunts him because his quirk is so overpowered. He does his best to live happily, but it's hard when he's always expecting the worst to happen. Not knowing when to expect anything good to happen, even when they do. Rated M for violence and other upsetting things.
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy & Class 1-A, Monkey D. Luffy & Hawks, Monkey D. Luffy & Portgas D. Ace
Series: Crossovers [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1925449
Comments: 23
Kudos: 64





	1. The Overpowered Street Rat

**Here it is! I had more fun writing this fic more than any other story. So much shit happens, there are like, arcs and everything! 201,000 words. My longest, 45 chapters. So, a lot of time for people to get into it! Even though one of the main characters was only just introduced in the anime, there are no spoilers regarding him. I love Hawks as much as I adore Mirio.**

**Anyways, there is a lot of angst in this. I've never put a** **character** **through so much than I did to Luffy in this one. And my regular readers know I put my versions of the** **characters** **through a lot of shit. More things will be mentioned in future A/Ns. If somethings seem off, they may be explained later. As in how old Hawks is and how he acts, or some of the timeline changes, etc.**

**And though there is a lot of angst, I also added a lot of humor between the main characters. Rated M for a lot of violence, swearing, angst, and suicidal thoughts. And it's not all just one cry your eyes out fest. Promise there's funny and happy things, too! So lots of feelings overall! Enjoy~!**

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**Edit: My dumbass just posted this story on a day I already posted another, so the next chapter might not be exactly a week from now. Sorry!**

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An eight year old walked through the slums he had the misfortune to live in. Not live, survive. The unfortunate situation he was put in three years ago. As a five year old, he was tossed from a moving car, and wasn't even near anywhere with a hospital. He still had scars from the road rash from that day. He didn't even remember the reason he was put through that. Didn't know why his supposed family had dumped him so badly.

It probably had to do with his overpowered quirk, but he'd never know. Nobody knew, he hid it from everyone, knowing he'd be in danger more than he already was if anyone found out what he could do, what he never did.

Luffy wouldn't risk his life or freedom by showing off his quirk. The quirk that he felt had been a curse from the very start. Since he was four, he'd been able to copy quirks to their fullest extent. If he saw someone with their quirk as a beginner, he instantly was able to use that to its fullest extent.

It wasn't like the more common copy quirks. He stored them away, always able to use them. He had 33 at the moment. And he only used one, the power to create small food from nothing. He needed food the most and that's why he used that quirk, even though people harassed him for it. Hungry street rats demanded he give them food.

After the first couple of times of doing that, he learned quickly that there was no point. They were just using him, not his friends like he'd hoped for. He was lonely, but never knew what it felt like to have friends or family. He had been alone for as long as he could remember.

He had just gotten in a fight with a villain who could project nails from his hands. So he was walking down the street with sixy nails in various parts of his body, bleeding heavily. He'd managed to escape from the villain, but was clearly in bad shape.

Luffy was an angry child. He didn't remember ever smiling, didn't know how to. Didn't know how to move his mouth in that way. He didn't know what happiness felt like. He only knew anger and fear. Anger most of the time. He was unapproachable to everyone, even the nice people, who rarely visited this place.

Heroes abandoned them. Luffy hated heroes, and he hated villains. He hated. He loved nothing, was fond of nothing and nobody. He hated the world, the life he was thrust into. He hated everyone and everything, even himself. Luffy hated himself for whatever he'd done to deserve being forced into this life.

Whatever he'd done must have been bad. He didn't remember, and didn't know if he wanted to. Did he want to know what the reason was for his abandonment? He walked through the street, heading to the dirty port for some fresh air. He attracted a lot of attention, but nobody offered to help even as he was pierced by nails everywhere but his face and neck.

None of them were especially deep, and the nails didn't have any rust or bacteria, but he was still bleeding from a lot of places. And no one cared because he was so unapproachable, or maybe he just wasn't worth anything in the eyes of anyone. His family or strangers. He was completely alone in the world, but was used to that by now.

He couldn't sit as nails were in his back, bottom and back of his thighs. He needed to sit, and started to yank the nails from his skin until somebody was suddenly behind him, stopping him. It was someone in his twenties with red wings and a relaxed face. "Don't do that or you'll bleed out." Luffy glared at him and told the hero to fuck off. "Afraid I can't do that. I've been assigned to this area and have already collected a bunch of kids. You're next. Don't worry, no one will hurt you." Luffy stormed away, still yanking nails out.

The winged hero stopped him again, and this time chopped the back of his neck so he passed out. He was brought to an ambulance and put in, the paramedics taking the nails out of his back slowly and carefully so they could lay him down, putting sealant on the open wounds to stop their bleeding temporarily.

When Luffy next woke up, he was in a hospital bed covered in wrappings and bandages. He glared at the bright walls and ceilings, sitting up. The winged hero was there for some reason and told him not to get up yet. Luffy glared at him, but said nothing. "What's your name, kid?" He didn't respond. "You sure seem angry. Something you share with all of the other kids who were on the street, though none of them were as injured as you were."

Luffy still said nothing. "C'mon, throw me a bone," he said calmly. "My name is Hawks." Luffy said nothing before thinking he'd stop asking questions if Luffy gave him his name.

"Luffy." His last name was asked. "I don't know." Hawks nodded, saying that was also common. So, now they come? After all that time, all that misery kids were forced to endure, now the heroes came out, preaching saving the kids who hated them. There wasn't a single kid on the street that liked heroes. They abandoned them. Of course they didn't like them.

Hawks said, "I formally apologize for the heroes not patrolling your area and leaving you kids to starvation and illness." Luffy was unimpressed. "We'll be trying to find you all a place to stay." Luffy just glared at him. "You hate us, huh?"

He was annoying, he didn't sound serious at all. He didn't look serious at all. Was he playing a joke on Luffy? And where would he go? Everyone hated him, everyone didn't want someone who could steal quirks. Well, he didn't steal, he just stored them. That was what he called it. "I hate everyone," Luffy said angrily. "Heroes, villains, normal people. They're all terrible." He sat up and smacked the hand away when Hawks tried to get him to lay back down.

"We heard from the other kids that you can make food. Is that your quirk?" Maybe if he told him his quirk, Hawks would leave him alone. He shook his head. Hawks asked what it was. Luffy thought for a moment, and thought the best way to prove it was to show himself using his quirk. Two red wings ripped apart his shirt.

"Everyone is my quirk," he said darkly and then the wings disappeared, sinking back into his skin like they were never there. Hawks, for once, didn't look laid back anymore, and instead looked shocked. He stood up and looked around out of the curtain to make sure no one had seen, and closed them, making Luffy out of sight.

Hawks asked how it worked, sounding concerned. He knew, like Luffy knew, that if word of his quirk got out, everyone would either want to take advantage of him or want him dead. "I see a quirk in use, I can use it to the full extent whenever I want. I have 34 including yours," he said. The bandages were annoying him. He wished he had a regeneration quirk to use.

The hero sat back down, frowning. "I already know what would happen to me if others found out, you don't need to say it." Hawks looked at him in conflict, probably not knowing what to say. Luffy knew he'd be targeted if he were found out. He could never live with a normal family, even if he wanted.

"How did you end up in the streets?" he asked. Luffy scoffed and looked away. But he answered. The guy already knew too much. More information wouldn't change the fact that Luffy would either be killed or locked up so nobody could gain his powers. Not that he would ever use them for someone else. He never used them himself, anyways. It was never safe.

"My family threw me out of a moving car and never came back. I'm sure you saw the scars since you're so nosy," Luffy said, crossing his legs on the bed despite the pain it caused, he was fine, he'd been through worse. And none of the nails had gone in deep, he'd be fine even if he did strenuous activities.

Hawks looked sad, and said he was sorry. "I didn't have the best home life either, but I can't pretend that our situations are similar in any way." Then he asked if Luffy had any quirks from heroes. He nodded, besides Hawks, he had the most coveted power. One he never wanted and nobody knew he had. Would Hawks tell anybody? He asked who.

Luffy said that even though he lived in the slums, there were TVs that projected hero fights. "Endeavor, Mt. Lady, Ryukyu and All Might. I never use those since the heroes probably wouldn't be happy. But now you know, so you'll blab to everyone else and I'll be locked away or offed," he said in a flat voice. Hawks said that they would never kill him or lock him up.

He did say, "But if your power fell into the wrong hands, things could get very bad. You hate everything right? Would you ever-?" Luffy interrupted and said he wouldn't become a villain. He hated them just as much as he hated heroes and regular people. There was nobody he didn't hate, and he didn't want to have everyone know or he'd be followed or trapped anywhere.

"What if I didn't tell anybody?" Hawks asked. Luffy scoffed, and said he was a liar. "I may be good at deception, but I'm not lying to you. I was used as a kid for my quirk, as well. I know what it's like to be used by somebody for their own gain." The kid looked at him critically, but saw no evidence as a lie. "Would you come with me and be under my wing? I can help you not hate everybody. It'll be a better life than the one you've been trapped in for how long?" he asked. It was a terrible and seemingly unintentional pun. Luffy told him he was dumped when he was five, so three years ago. He frowned deeper. "What do you say? Will you come with me?"

Luffy asked if he could go anywhere else or if that was the only option. "I'm not extremely loyal to the superhero society, I won't tell them a word except the power you want to use in public or if ever approached. But I won't force you. I just might be the only person that makes sure the government doesn't know about your power while you're still young.

"You are not the age of someone who should use your powers for anyone else." Luffy glared at him, asking him if he was planning on training him to be a hero. "No. I'll be helping you leave behind your terrible past. If you end up becoming a hero, then that's great. If not, that's fine, as long as you don't become a villain."

Luffy told him he'd been chased by villains for a while and would never join them. Hawks said they would go to his agency after Luffy was let out of the hospital. His wounds would take awhile to all heal.

Luffy was still dirty and smelly, but Hawks said nothing about it and neither did anyone in the hospital. They must have seen the state he was in by then, as he had been changed into a hospital gown. They must have been the scars littering his body and how prominent his ribs were. He could make food, but it made him weak after using that quirk. So he was vulnerable and only ate when he was someplace safe. At least, safer than other places.

He was let out a day later, given antibiotics and cream to put on the nail wounds. Hawks told him the man who had done that to him had been apprehended. It was a mass exodus out of that neighborhood of both villains and street rats.

They drove away from the hospital, and he was brought to Hawks' agency, where he did hero work. Luffy wasn't looking forward to it. But where else would he have gone that was safe? But now a pro-hero knew his quirk. It was risky, and he hoped he hadn't just screwed himself over. He was hungry, even though he'd been fed. It would take awhile for him to be a truly healthy weight where he could eat all he wanted.

Luffy didn't know what to expect would happen. He was still angry and hateful, with a bad attitude. Hawks tried talking to him a few times, but Luffy just looked out the car window. The young pro-hero didn't grow irritated with his lack of responses and instead stopped asking. The kid wondered how long it would take for him to be kicked out.

He was only eight, but had the glare of a person who had been through hell and didn't trust anyone or anything. When they got to the building far from where Luffy had to stay on his own for 3 years, Luffy saw just how tall it was. Since that life was all he could remember, he didn't know what a life somewhere else would be like.

They pulled into a parking lot where there were multiple cars parked. Other peoples' cars. Probably workers. When they were parked in a garage and the doors unlocked, Luffy opened his and looked up at the tall building. He wondered if it was all Hawks' agency or if he shared with other businesses, but he didn't ask.

"C'mon, I'll bring you to your room," Hawks said. Luffy followed him in, glad he didn't ask anymore questions. He had caught on quickly that Luffy wouldn't be the most cooperative guest. He felt out of place being so grimey here when the inside of the building was nice and clean.

People busied themselves everywhere, paying little attention to Luffy. Hawks led him to an elevator, and it went up to the top floor. This area was much different than the ground floor he'd seen first. There were doors, wooden ones that weren't glass and fancy. Inside the larger door, he saw there was a kitchen and what looked like a living room.

"This is the area I live in. A lot more cozy than the rest of the building," Hawks said and walked to the nearest room, opening the door to show a bed and standard furniture. "This is a guest bedroom that can be yours as long as you stay. There's two bathrooms, and one is across this hall. It's big, so you can either take a shower or a bath. You're welcome to the food as long as you don't start a fire or make a mess," he explained, voice easygoing.

Luffy was glad, but also suspicious. "I'll have some workers go get some new clothes for you. Anything in particular?" Luffy said he liked shorts and tank tops. He didn't care about his scars showing. They would always be there, why hide it the rest of his life? He wasn't proud of that life, but he had lived it and there was no erasing the residue that hell left on him.

"Are you mad I can use your quirk?" Luffy asked, nothing to do with what Hawks had just told him about living there. He shook his head, saying he knew he wouldn't use it all the time and so he had nothing to worry about.

"Besides, I doubt you'll want to replace me as a hero," he said simply. Luffy sighed, not liking his quirk. "Do you not like that quirk? Not having your own personal power, only other peoples'?" Luffy furrowed his brows, not liking that he completely correctly guessed about how Luffy felt.

Hawks noticed his expression, and said he was always good at reading people. Luffy said he wished he didn't have this quirk, and then went to take a shower, not wanting to dirty a bathtub with the grime covering him. His hair was oily and tangled. He was the picture of terrible hygiene, even if he hadn't had any choice.

His hair took the longest to clean, washing it three times. The sealants over the nail wounds didn't wash away with the water. Luffy hadn't known there was anything like that before. It was interesting at least. When he was clean, he was in a towel and opened the door a crack to see there were some changes of clothes. Had he been in the shower long enough for someone to go shopping?

After changing his clothes, he found an unopened box with a toothbrush under the sink. He assumed Hawks wouldn't want his breath to smell bad, so he opened it and brushed his teeth, some things coming to him quickly about a normal life.

His teeth were not in the best shape, but it would be fine. None of them hurt, and he had no cavities since he never ate anything sweet. He exited the room looking like a completely different person, even if he still had that dark expression on. He walked to his new bedroom for forever long he was here.

He sat on the bed, and laid down on top of the blankets. He looked at his hands, scarred and with callouses from various things. He closed his hands into fists, and then relaxed before falling asleep.

The kid was awoken with a knock on the door. "You hungry?" Hawks asked from the other side. Luffy sighed and rubbed his eyes, and opened the door. He was holding up take out. Luffy hadn't had any comfort food in years. He didn't remember the kinds of food he liked that weren't the few variations he knew how to make.

There was no kitchen table, Luffy noticed. "I don't eat at a table. Either the couch or the floor." Luffy liked this, it would be awkward to eat at the table. "It's Chinese food. I got a shit ton of different things for you to try. But you're only allowed to eat a little. Don't want you getting sick from eating too much."

Luffy was surprised with how casual he spoke. Well, he wasn't old. In his early twenties probably. He didn't know much about heroes other than All Might and Endeavor, and even those he didn't know much about.

"Okay," he said and got a little bit of everything that had been put on the bar counter. The kitchen was nice. It actually felt like a house instead of a business building. He didn't ask anything and ate silently. If the pro-hero saw Luffy's tears as he ate real food, he said nothing about it.

"You look a lot better clean," Hawks said from the couch, Luffy eating on the carpet, leaning against the back of the couch. "A lot more healthy."

Luffy knew he probably had some sort of health conditions after how he lived for three years. He said nothing for a moment before he decided to reply with something else. "Why do you live here? You don't have a house or something?"

Hawks said that this was his "or something". "It's a lot easier to use the elevator or some stairs instead of driving or flying from somewhere else. I want to make a world where heroes have time to kill." Luffy asked if he was lazy. "In some eyes. I'd rather not be chained to work day in and day out, though I do my job as a hero."

Luffy said, "You're a weird hero."

The man said, "I like to call it unique. Want some ice cream?" he asked when Luffy brought the plate back to the kitchen. "Just a little bit." Luffy furrowed his brows but nodded. "It's in the freezer, choose whichever you want. Only a spoonful."

He got out green and black ice cream. After all, he couldn't read or write. He was five when he was abandoned, hadn't even started school. He looked at the label of the ice cream, wishing he could read it. It looked like messy scribbling, not some sort of writing.

"I'll get you a tutor in a couple days. Learn to read and write and do some math. You're behind, but not by too much," Hawks said casually. Luffy scowled, hating that he was uneducated. At least he wasn't too old to catch up to normal kids. But he was glad he would get to learn. He didn't say a thank you, but he nodded, savoring the ice cream on the spoon in his mouth.

He put the tub back in the freezer. And walked back to his room without a word. He had no belongings and his clothes were dumped in the trash once he realized they were so tattered and damaged that they'd never be usable again.

Laying in bed, he looked out of the window wall, seeing the bustling city with cars though no sound from outside reached him. He found there was a button on the wall that put shutters over the windows, so he did that. He fell asleep under the covers this time.

He woke up and changed before slowly leaving his room, peeking out of the door and seeing nobody was there before he saw a note on the door. Since he couldn't read, it was a poorly drawn stick figure with wings shown going down a flight of stairs with a picture of a pencil and paper. He went to work. Well, that was one way to show it.

He wasn't really sure what to do. But eventually, he felt himself growing irate with something simple. There were dishes in the dishwasher and the kitchen trash was pretty full. He hated dirty things, now it seems, probably because he lived in filth and grime for years.

The refugee cleaned the dishes and found plastic garbage bags under the sink and took out the nearly full one, shrinking it into the size of a cell phone. He put a new bag inside and tossed the shrunk one inside. But there was nothing else to clean. For a long time, he sat in front of the window wall, watching the busy city.

He was so used to the slums and crappy buildings that this was a culture shock. He scowled, wondering when he'd start being used for hero work. Probably pretty soon, or after Hawks got any sort of trust from him. Luffy still felt that he'd be tossed out really soon. Forgotten. He looked at the nail injuries on his arms and remembered he had antibiotics and cream to put on them.

They were inside of a paper bag from the hospital and he took the single pill to help heal the wounds, and cream that would keep the holes from opening again. He took off his clothes in the bathroom and applied the cream to each and every wound. Well, now he could shoot nails from his hands. Not that it would probably even be useful.

Most of the quirks he'd acquired weren't powerful, as they were from small time villains or just anyone he'd seen using quirks. He had some to entertain himself and not make a mess, but they got boring quickly. He created metal wire from his fingers, releasing it to leave a lot of wire. He started shaping it into random things. He had fingers that could turn into pliers, which he'd seen at a hardware store, and created random art pieces. Then he burnt them into nothing.

After awhile, he took a nap on the couch. He woke to a knock on the door that led to the hallway that only had the elevator. He thought the top floor was only opened by keys. He'd seen Hawks use it to get to the top floor of the building.

He walked to the front door and stood on his tiptoes to see nobody was there. But he opened it slowly, peeking through the crack and seeing there was no one there. But there was a single paper cup, looking like it came from a cafe, and picked it up. He did recognize his own name, which was on the drink.

After closing and locking the front door, he sniffed the steaming opening on the lid. It smelled like hot chocolate, and he took a sip. It was rich and sweet. The most delicious thing he'd eaten in years. He stood in the hall, drinking the hot chocolate with teary eyes. But he wouldn't get used to this, he'd be tossed out soon enough.

He threw the cup away after he'd drunk everything. He returned to the window wall, curled up in a ball next to it, looking out at the city. He looked down at his hands, using the chameleon quirk and making his hands blend into the carpet beneath him. He was finally able to use more quirks. Stolen quirks. The boy sighed, wishing he had his own quirk and didn't just copy and store others' powers.

The quirk he had was not original and didn't need any hard work. He gained the quirks at their highest levels. Levels that should have taken him years to master. It felt like he was cheating. Anyone else would want this quirk, but he wanted something useful that was unique.

It was close to sunset when Hawks unlocked the front door and walked in, in his hero costume. "Yo," he said and set a box on the floor in front of the large TV that Luffy hadn't touched. "Sorry you had nothing to do today. I stopped a robbery at a game store, so I bought this for you. Since you don't have anywhere to go besides here, I got something to distract you."

He opened the box to show a game station. "What is it?" Luffy asked slowly, approaching cautiously.

"A Playstation. You ever heard of video games? I don't play much, but it will no doubt be a distraction so you won't be bored out of your mind," he said easily. He set it up to the TV, and brought out four games. He read them off and all of them were different genres. He was taking into account the fact that Luffy couldn't read. "You can play it tomorrow while I'm at work."

Luffy handled the controller, glad there were no letters on the buttons. Luffy struggled to make a thank you that sounded sincere. He was suspicious. Finally, he asked why money was being spent on him when he'd be kicked out soon.

"I never said I'd kick you out," Hawks replied easily.

Luffy asked why he was doing this, voice back to being angry and guarded. Hawks replied honestly, "Sympathy, maybe a little bit of pity. And I think you could have a bright future regardless of your past. Just leave all that shit behind."

The word "pity" did not set Luffy off because he appreciated that the pro-hero was being honest with him. He told Luffy he had already contacted a tutor that would come the next day after breakfast. "How are your wounds?" Luffy said he'd taken the pill and did the ointment like he was supposed to.

"You're bad at drawing," Luffy said blunty, holding up the note that had been on his door. Hawks nodded, saying he wasn't very artistic, but that it seemed to have gotten the point across well. Luffy said that was true, it was easy to understand. He looked to the kitchen and noticed the dishes in the sink were no longer there and the trash wasn't at the capacity. "Apparently, I don't like messes…" the kid said cautiously. Hawks asked how he got the garbage out since he hadn't left the apartment.

Luffy said he shrunk the trash bag, and he looked into the garbage to see a tiny version of the garbage bag. "Well, if you want, you could repay my kindness with cleaning. If you want to." Luffy agreed, he didn't like messes and didn't know what to do to make it even. Nothing would make it even, being taken in and fed and given clothes. And the ability to bathe was also a huge plus.

Luffy had had leftovers for lunch and breakfast. Hawks pulled some cereal off of the refrigerator and showed it to Luffy, telling him he could have that for breakfast. "Also, there's milk in the fridge since cereal pretty much always goes with milk," he said. "Sorry I didn't tell you that last night."

He made food for dinner that night, pasta. Luffy didn't remember ever having this, but ate the serving amount he was given without a word. It didn't seem uncomfortable for Hawks, but Luffy felt that way. He put the stuff in the dishwasher after Hawks easily showed him how to work it. He then headed to his new room to sleep. It was wonderful to sleep on a bed after years of behind dumpsters or on top of soggy cardboard boxes.

Hawks woke him up early the next morning. He knocked on the bedroom door and Luffy got up to open it, hair a mess and looking completely disheveled. "Wanna go for a walk before the tutor gets here?" he suggested. Luffy asked if that was okay, and Hawks shrugged and said it was fine for him. "You don't have to, I just figured you might want some fresh air. Though being inside might be more comfortable for you, after all."

Luffy said he'd go and quickly got dressed in the second pair of shorts and a tank top. It was awesome having real clothes. While he didn't fully trust Hawks, he appreciated him giving him a place to stay for now. He put on the boots he was bought, which fit perfectly. He'd been stuck with ratty tennis shoes for way too long, so sturdy boots were great.

"Ignore the stares. If there are photos taken, it won't matter to you, you're not part of the general public at the moment," he said easily as they rode the elevator down the building and to the first floor. It was busy inside, but Luffy apparently wasn't a secret to the workers as no one gave him a second glance. If he was a surprise, there would at least be some people looking curious or surprised themselves.

They walked out of the busy building and outside. People saw Hawks and said hello or asked for photos. How exhausting it would be to be treated like this in public everywhere. Luffy walked behind him, shoulders hunched and glaring. "You won't look good for the photos," Hawks said, slowing so they were walking side by side.

"So?"

"Thought so," he said in amusement. "Guess it doesn't really matter for you, huh?" the pro-hero asked. "Don't worry, no need to force yourself. You shouldn't smile if it is forced." Luffy thought he was a weird hero. Weren't they all supposed to be into their jobs? Serious all the time? Hawks just acted bored or easy going no matter the situation.

Luffy asked why he was like that. He wasn't like other heroes you saw on the news and doing their job loudly. "I want to make a future where heroes have some time to relax and don't have to be on the job 24/7." Luffy said nothing, and their walk was silent. It was nice, that this place didn't reek of sewage and rotting food. It really was so crazy thinking about how only a few days ago he'd been in that life he was tossed into, literally. He was shocked out of his musings when Hawks said something he didn't expect.

"I want to teach you to fly. But it would be obvious something was up if you had my wings, too," he said, for once sounding slightly irritated. Luffy suspiciously asked why. Hawks turned around and started walking backwards, hands in his pockets. "Because flying is the most amazing and stress-freeing experience I know."

Luffy wasn't sure how to react. "Plus," he added. "It would also be nice to have someone else I could fly with or talk about. I feel like you'd enjoy flying." The child asked why. "Because you don't have to think about anything other than flying. I can tell you're constantly stressed no matter if you're someplace safe."

Luffy said that there would be no point in learning to fly if he could only do it once, when Hawks wanted to. "Have you ever been able to merge two quirks together? Use them at the same time?" Luffy looked confused, but nodded. "How?"

"I was making wire with one hand and then turned my finger and thumb into a plier at the same time. It's not really a hard thing to do with those kinds of quirks." Hawks hummed. He asked if Luffy had any mutant quirks besides his own. He really wasn't bothered that he wasn't the only person who had his signature quirk. It confused Luffy, he still didn't know what to make of Hawks.

The pro-hero said, "Then let's try and get you some more quirks. And you can practice using them at the same time." Luffy looked closed off suddenly. "I'm meaning to do something _you_ want to do. It's not like having you learn how to fly without giving everything away is some government goal." Luffy could see that reasoning. What would the point be of having him gather more quirks just so he could use one in disguise?

Luffy asked where he'd get new quirks from. Hawks said, "Where else? The internet. You don't need to see them in person, right?" The child nodded. "Then that's easy." They were walking back, apparently only walked the block before returning to the agency where Hawks lived, with Luffy staying as a guest for now.

When they got back to the entrance, Hawks looked at his watch. "The tutor will be here soon, so go eat some breakfast. We'll try some stuff with the quirks later." He brought Luffy back inside before leaving, giving him a thumbs up. He really didn't act like a hero. Luffy was kind of glad about that. He hated heroes, how they acted. How determined they were to help everyone only to leave large sections of the country on their own, falling into the hands of villains or gangs.


	2. Wings

#### Katsuu1: Thank you, I'm glad you like it so far. Only one chapter in, I hope you stick around!

**Anime-Moon00: Man you love the feels lol. But Luffy does go through a lot. I enjoyed making him suffer. Sorry-not-sorry! I doubt Hawks would bring a kid home, too, in cannon, but I made his situation a bit different in this. He had some "issues" with the commission and managed to ditch, so he's taking in Luffy because he doesn't want anyone to go through what he did. I made this part up, it's not a manga spoiler!**

**chickie434: *A challenger has approached***

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**Here's the next chapter! Uber-early, it's 1 AM. Enjoy~**

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Luffy was sitting at the coffee table, waiting for the tutor. It all felt weird. Why was he here? The child walked to the window, putting his hand on the glass. He was out of that world. But what world was he in now? Luffy looked back at the living room. This is what he'd wanted for three years. Somewhere soft, able to be himself, not hide his quirks, not hide who he was from everyone out of safety concerns.

What hero would be happy someone shared their quirks? And he seemed honest when he said he just wanted Luffy to fly to feel better. Looking at birds, they looked so free, not bound to the earth or whatever was happening below. He balled his hand into a fist that then relaxed.

It didn't matter right now, he was going to learn. He wasn't going to be illiterate anymore. He would pour everything into learning and not being completely useless. What grade were kids his age in, anyways? Would he ever go to school? Be a normal kid? Did he want that? He didn't remember ever wishing to go to school. It was always for a friend, someone who cared about him. Or a home to stay in, sleep on a bed, be sheltered from the rain.

Was that where he was now? Hawks definitely wasn't or was ever going to be a father figure or uncle. A brother would be too familiar. Was he a friend? Could eight year olds be friends with someone his age? How old was the cut off age for being friends? He would think about that later when there was a knock on the door.

He opened it to see a normal looking person with a big bag of books and another full of supplies. She smiled at him, and said her name was Anise and she'd be his tutor. He moved aside and let her in. There was no table or desk, but the coffee table was fine to sit at. She laid out multiple notebooks and pencils.

The first lesson: teach him how to hold a pencil. That was easy, even if his writing was incredibly messy. But that was the first lesson. He was starting from kindergarten. It would take time, but hopefully would be faster the more work he put into it. He traced words and letters and then did basic math problems that wouldn't need to be written down.

He wasn't totally uneducated, he knew how to count to twenty. So, problems adding two numbers together was somewhat easy. They did basic things like that until Luffy was moderately good at them. Not good enough to be fully educated about it, but good enough to work on his own in the large packet for that week.

They worked for three hours before a break and then resumed for another three hours, this time learning how to read. The first part was math and learning how to write letters. Then the next part was reading. This topic was spent a lot more time on. Reading was something you needed to know to function in the world properly. He should know how to read at his age, and he would learn as fast as he could.

After that day's lesson was done, he had a lot of homework to do. He looked at the packet in dissatisfaction. "Can you bring more? I want to learn as much as I can as fast as I can, even if it's a lot of work."

"Going easy for the first week is important to learn your limits. After that, I'll be happy to give you extra work. You did well today. Keep practicing with the words and basic math, okay? We'll focus more heavily on reading tomorrow." Luffy accepted this and nodded, thanking her for helping him.

The way he spoke sounded harsh and impatient, but she seemed to know he wasn't meaning any disrespect. She left and he locked the door behind her before hurrying back to the coffee table to work on what work he was given for that week. There were pages and sections assigned for each day.

He worked hard on writing, able to write letters fine by an hour. Then he went to working with numbers, memorizing up to fifty, adding thirty more numbers to his ability to count. He was supposed to be in third grade, and the lady treated him like a third grader. He didn't feel like one. He felt too old to be that age. He stared down at his hands. The scars that hardened his heart. He felt like an older person trapped in a kid's body, though he was stupid like a kid. At least, education wise. He didn't feel like a stupid person, maybe uneducated fit the way he felt.

Luffy was at least smart enough to fight and live on his own, not die or submit to anybody else. Not join a gang, not show his full quirk in front of anybody else. He completed that night's packet soon, going over his work and rewriting the letters, recounting the numbers. This was the start. He'd catch up. But what would he do when he did catch up? Would he ever go to school?

After tracing the letters for the sixteenth time, he started to make them on an extra piece of lined paper from one of the notebooks he hadn't used yet. He spent at least an hour writing off hand the letters of the alphabet. It wasn't too hard, and he felt he memorized them as uppercase pretty soon. The uppercase versions seemed easier to memorize to him, but you can't only write in uppercase, and he worked on lowercase letters.

While he worked, he thought about the challenge Hawks had brought up. To combine two quirks. And he thought of two that might work, that he already had. He tried it out, knowing he couldn't burn other things with Endeavor's flames unless you did it purposely. His shirt was off as he grew the large wings, and then carefully spread a layer of fire over the feathers. It didn't burn them, in the same sense that Endeavor had boots covered in flames and they weren't damaged.

The feathers didn't burn away, and Luffy awkwardly beat the wings back and forth. It was difficult and threw him off balance, knocking him to the side. It wasn't too surprising that this was difficult, this was an extra body part being added, not a new emitter power.

"Yeah, it's really hard to get a hang of," Hawks said in amusement, walking inside. He didn't even notice it was dark out. "I see you've been able to use two quirks at once." Luffy said he'd never tried something like this before. "Then you're a pretty fast learner. I'm sure it will take you awhile to be able to fly. You didn't grow up with them as they grew with your body. For you, they're just suddenly there."

Luffy nodded, letting go of the flames and absorbing the wings back into his body until there was no trace of them being there. He put his shirt back on. "I bought supplies for something healthy to make. It'll probably taste like shit since I haven't and I doubt you've cooked it, but it's worth a try. Could always order an emergency pizza." Luffy was reluctantly curious, but didn't ask what it was. "I found it online a couple months ago but never tried it." He was taking off his hero costume, and had normal clothes underneath. It all looked so heavy.

Luffy hesitantly asked what it was. "Cranberry balsamic chicken. It's apparently eaten at Christmas, but no one can just say you can't eat something unless it's the holidays. So, we'll try making it and hope a fire doesn't start," Hawks said lightly.

"I have a fire extinguisher quirk. I saw a firefighter use it once," Luffy said quietly. Hawks smiled and said that was convenient. Luffy nodded in agreement. He started to cook, watching the video of making it on a tablet. He asked how the day went. "Maybe focus on not burning the food."

Hawks chuckled and admitted that was the smart thing to do. Luffy didn't point out when the chicken started to smell burnt. Hawks didn't miss this either. "Damn," he said, flipping one of the chicken breasts to show the bottom was burnt.

"Can't you just cut off the burnt bottom?" Luffy asked, never having actually cooked a meal in his life. He'd made cereal that morning, but that was hardly cooking. Hawks said he'd try, but after he cut the bottom off, whatever he'd been doing wrong was still wrong and burnt the chicken again. "Maybe turn the temperature down?"

He did that, but the sauce had gotten hard with the lower temperature. "Well, before I ruin the rest lets just take what's left," the pro-hero said easily, pulling the chicken out of the mixture. He put the unsavory looking food on the plates and both of them tried it. It was disgusting, but Luffy would eat any food he was given. "That was _not_ a success. You don't need to eat gross food anymore, Luffy."

"We're just gonna waste it?" Luffy asked, not understanding how people could waste food so easily.

"I think we wasted it the moment I tried to cook something interesting," Hawks said. "Pizza it is." Luffy took the chicken and asked if he should just burn it up so there was none in the garbage can and might get smelly. Hawks said that was fine and there wasn't even a burnt smell after he vaporized what was left of the failed dish with Endeavor's blue flames.

He got on the phone and ordered some pepperoni after Luffy told him he was fine with anything. While they waited, Hawks asked how the day went again. "Fine. Reading was the most difficult part. Math was fine, you have to at least know some math even on the streets. My handwriting is shit."

Why was he talking so much? Maybe because Hawks was easy to talk to and seemed like a good listener. "That's good. I was taught in a facility, so it wasn't that fun to learn there," he said honestly.

Luffy was quiet before he asked what he would do after he was at a fourth grade level, since he would probably be there by the time he was caught up and learned everything needed. "Do you want to go to school?" he asked, sitting on the couch while Luffy was on the carpet. It still felt unfamiliar to sit on a comfortable thing like the couch, and even lying on the bed was strange. Hopefully he'd get used to it soon.

He shrugged. "I was never interested in school. Just friends and a place to live," he replied honestly.

"You would make friends at a school," Hawks pointed out reasonably. Luffy knew that was true, and nodded. "Something else wrong?"

Luffy was quiet for a moment before he asked, "Who wouldn't be bothered by someone else having access to their quirk? Not everyone is weird like you." He didn't really mean any disrespect, he was just being blunt.

"Well, you could always pick one quirk and use that as your main one. Just because you can use them doesn't mean you have to, and it doesn't mean you have to tell everyone about it." The pizza came and there was a buzz from below and Hawks left to go get it and bring it back up. It was a big pizza that they would share. "I'll try to get less take out." Luffy said he didn't have to do that. "I don't want to ruin your health when you've already been starved for years."

"You don't have to care about that stuff," Luffy said. For once, Hawks frowned.

He replied, "If I care about getting you education, then I would care about your health. I want you fed, and not with crap food only. Maybe I'll try something a little more basic than a holiday dinner. It was kind of ridiculous to start out so complicated instead of just regular food that wasn't bad for you," he explained.

Luffy asked if his wings got in the way a lot. "Nah, I'm really used to it. Though I do have to have shirts specially made. Kind of a small trade off for the quirk." He asked if it was heavy. "I'm also used to the weight. And they're not very heavy, you might have noticed that with your version." Luffy had. He'd thought they'd be much heavier, even if it did add some weight. It unbalanced him, but it wasn't hard for them just to be there.

He asked Luffy if he'd tried out the game station, Luffy shook his head. He didn't want to break it. "You have to risk breaking it if you want to play with it," Hawks said reasonably. Luffy was sour, not wanting to be forced to play. "Not gonna force you, but you should at least know how to set it up when you do want to play. C'mere." When he saw Luffy frown he added, "Please."

Luffy walked to the TV and sat in front of the game station while Hawks read the manual and then set it up for him. It was easy, press the power button, put the game in and select it from the menu. "Huh, that was pretty easy," Hawks said, and then said that was nice, didn't need to do too much for it. Luffy nodded and then Hawks said he had to do some paperwork, the most boring aspect of being a hero. The child nodded, and Hawks went into a room he hadn't opened the door to, and saw an office like room.

He was encouraged to try out the games. Luffy looked at the games' cases, and judged which to play by the pictures and what he remembered of Hawks' explaining what they were about. He chose one that looked the easiest. He turned on the game station and put the disk inside, taking the controller.

The game was about what seemed like an angel assassin, based on real life people. The cut scenes were actual humans, and one of them had huge blue wings, the main character. He was able to figure out the controls by the symbols on the screen, not needing to read the words that came with it.

He played it for an hour, doing absolutely terrible, but determined to get the hang of it. The controls were hard and it was a difficult game for a first timer. But he would manage, he wanted to be a fast learner in all things, even silly ones like this.

When there was another cut scene, Luffy furrowed his brows and wondered if it would work. This was a human with the wing quirk. Luffy put the controller down after pausing the game's cutscene and attempted to draw out the blue wings. It worked, but these wings were bigger than Hawk's, the feathers barely touching the ground when he stood up.

Of course, that might be because he was eight years old and already short for his age. But, they were wings distinctly different than Hawks. But would anyone recognize them from the video game? Maybe it could just be similar, and wouldn't be nearly as noticeable if he used the number three pro-heroes quirk.

He flapped them in the hallway, finding they were somehow lighter than Hawks even though they were bigger and wider. They were taller than he was and spread out his body length when they were both unfurled. He pulled them back in tightly. He'd taken his shirt off. Well, maybe Hawks would be happy with this, since he so badly wanted to teach Luffy how to fly. Now he wouldn't be seen as the same.

Hawks came out, not looking irritated even though Luffy was sure he distracted him from his work. "Where'd these come from?"

"Game's cutscene," he replied shortly. Hawks broke character and snorted into his hand, saying Luffy's power was crazy. Luffy frowned and Hawks made sure to say he wasn't trying to be offensive. Just didn't expect he'd get a quirk from playing a video game. "It's only cause the actors were real. Not the games," Luffy said defensively.

The pro-hero smiled and asked if Luffy wanted to try flying practice after his tutor and after he came back home from work. Luffy looked uncomfortable, but agreed. Why not? If he fell off the building, he was sure one of his quirks would activate and save him. Didn't know which one, but out of all 35, one had to help him.

He would expect Hawks to catch him, but who knows? "We can practice on the roof. It's very wide, so practicing would be relatively easy. You won't be flying anytime soon, but learning how to move with the wings," he explained, looking happy and even excited. Luffy asked if he really only wanted Luffy to be happy or if there was another big factor. He was honest, like Luffy thought he always was, even if he sometimes sounded upbeat and like he was just making things up. Luffy didn't think that was true.

"I want someone to fly with. Pretty silly, but there are no other pro-heroes or sidekicks that can fly." Luffy knew he was being honest. Hawks… maybe he wasn't such a bad guy. Well, time would tell if he was being sincere in his words and actions.

Luffy said he'd never shared a quirk with anyone, so it would be weird to be similar. Hawks pointed out that those weren't his wings. They weren't red or shaped the same way. Luffy asked what he meant. He hadn't noticed the hooks on them. "Those parts look more like a bat's wings, but you have feathers.

"Pretty sure you'd be able to cling to things, but that's not a necessity," Hawks said. Luffy looked up and did see them. They were sharp. He moved the wings slightly, flapping them to the side. It knocked him to the side, But Hawks caught him and propped him back up by the arm. "Maybe we'll do this outside. I have to make dinner, and then if you want we could go out and try. Are you finished with your homework?"

Luffy nodded, not mentioning he spent an extra hour going over everything again, memorizing as much as he could. He cautiously asked what he was making. "Second attempt at a chicken dish, but I won't screw it up this time. One of my sidekicks gave me an easy recipe." They still had chicken in the fridge that hadn't been ruined the night before.

After he was successful in making lemon chicken, and Luffy ate multiple servings, since he'd been having normal sized lunches and breakfasts. Hawks didn't stop him, didn't seem surprised with how much Luffy could eat. "How was it?"

"Not burnt."

"I'll take that as a compliment," the pro-hero said easily. Then he grinned. "Ready to go try?" Luffy nodded. There was a stairway across from the stairs on the floor below that headed to the roof, where they both went. It was windy, but not too much. Hawks positioned himself a few meters from Luffy. He took his shirt off and grew the large blue wings. The wind blew him backwards from the air pushing his wings.

"Fold them in and the wind won't be too bad," Hawks said, having to speak over the whistling of the wind in their ears. Luffy clumsily did that, curling the wings until they were compressed behind him, the wind not impeding him anymore. "The wind is the best tool to teach you to glide," Hawks said and got a bungee cord that was tied to a pipe of the air conditioning.

He had Luffy wrap it around his chest, under his armpits tightly. He told the boy to open his wings wide. Hawks took his legs and pushed them up until he was parallel to the rooftop. The wind in his eyes burned them, so Hawks put his sunglasses of his costume on him, making his sight just fine.

Luffy was gliding, off balance, but catching himself all right. He attempted to spread his arm out, but it made him off balance and he put them back in. Hawks pushed his left wing up to get him back on balance. The man told Luffy he was going to make the cord longer to get him higher. He said he was okay with that and the cord got looser, Hawks standing on the highest part of the air conditioner unit to put Luffy higher by putting a hand on his chest.

This was scary, but also cool. He slightly tipped one wing to the side, thinking of bird turning, and he turned to the left. The cord was loose enough to let him sway back and forth. He angled the wings to make him slightly higher and then downwards.

Hawks was smiling triumphantly. "Notice something? What's your mouth doing right now?" he asked, sounding almost bragging. Luffy was _smiling_. "Told you flying was amazing. Imagine how freeing it will be when you can actually fly." Luffy felt himself looking forward to that. If he could go wherever he wanted, that would be awesome. He nodded in agreement.

After a while of gliding, Hawks loosened the cord even more, Luffy not knowing how long it was in the beginning but seeing it was quite long now. He told Luffy, if he was comfortable with it, to fly in a circle. He was high above the building, but trusted the cord to not having him crash or fall over the side.

Hawks was flying beside him for extra security. Luffy was wobbly, not the picture of skilled, and ended up turning too far to the left and falling towards the roof, nervous and unable to raise his wing. Hawks was there and caught him when he fell.

The blue wings were sucked back into his back. "Very good first try, I'm impressed," Hawks praised, unstrapping Luffy and coiling the cord back around the air conditioning pipe. Unofficially showing their practice was over. "I was thinking. Since you were able to use the wings and Endeavor's quirk at the same time, you could use your strength you get from All Might to pump your wings harder to go faster, once you are able to stably fly."

Luffy said the strength was always there. It was one he couldn't turn off. Hawks said he didn't move like he had super strength, surprised. Luffy was like a normal person in everything he did that Hawks had seen so far. "It would be inconvenient to be strong all the time and not act like a normal person. Things are easy to lift or move, but there's no point in using it for no reason," he explained.

Why was he so talkative? Why was he acting buddy-buddy with him? He didn't want to trust anybody and get hurt more. Be thrown away like his family had, for whatever reason. But Hawks had been honest and blunt with him. If it were to anybody else, they might find that rude. But Luffy expected to be told the truth, never going to accept anybody who told him lies.

He was so sure heroes were different. Maybe Hawks was just an odd one out of the hundreds and thousands of heroes out there. Those that preach justice and the safety of the little people, even when they abandon large parts of the country. Hawks didn't preach justice, didn't convince Luffy there were good people and things out there, made him go anywhere he wanted, forced him to go outside when he didn't want to. Hawks just let him do whatever he wanted as long as it was reasonable.

It was a relief from what he'd been expecting. And he didn't sense him lying about his reasoning to teach Luffy to fly. It wasn't a power that would make him the best hero. It was being used to make him happy. A far cry than somebody secretly manipulating him to be a hero without him noticing, even though he would. It would be easy to notice.

"You said you can control the powers to the fullest once you store it away?" Luffy was surprised he said store as well. Had he said that already? Most would call it stealing, right? Even if the original person didn't lose theirs, he was still stealing them.

He nodded and said, in a sour voice, "I don't even need to work at it."

"What about what we just did? You're working on it to use it, right? Maybe you could use this as a dominant quirk or something else mixed in it. You used the flames and wings at the same time, right? Maybe you could use others and mix them to be more of your own."

Hawks was right, he was having to practice flying. It wasn't a quirk he would learn overnight, and that made him not frown. That there were at least some quirks that he had to work at. He'd rather use one of those as his dominant quirks. And he could fly anywhere without it being weird if he used it as his dominant quirk.

"There's no need to figure it out soon, but maybe brainstorming would be good for you to be confident in your quirk. And not ashamed, right?" Luffy frowned, but nodded.

"Why do you know so much stuff? Can you read minds?"

Hawks said, "God no, that would be a terrible quirk. I was trained in interpersonal skills as a kid. I'm just good at reading people or getting a feel for their personality. An upside of that training." Luffy said nothing. It was 10:00 by now, so he said he was going to go to bed.

"Okay, see you tomorrow. Do you want an alarm clock or for me to wake you up before I leave?" Luffy said he'd have an alarm clock, not wanting to have to have him wake him up every morning. It would be too much to ask. He was given an old digital clock in one of the closets. "I never need this anymore. The magic of smartphones." The hero gave it to Luffy, who knew enough to plug things into the walls.

He figured out how to set the time, looking at Hawks phone screen to set it with the right numbers to tell time. He brushed his teeth in the bathroom and then went to bed, waking up at 8:00 to shower and get ready for the tutor.

That day passed much like they first, him doing his best during the lesson. He was praised for his improvement just by going over his work multiple times. He'd memorized a lot and was able to recall it all during the session. It felt… nice, to be praised like this. Made him feel like maybe, just maybe, he could be worth something someday.

He didn't know how he felt about school, but it was what would have to happen eventually. He wouldn't get a job anywhere if he never went to school, after all. Even _not_ a hero job, something simple would probably also require him to have at least a basic education. People were homeschooled, but if he was going to stay with Hawks and not get dumped like he said he wouldn't, Luffy wouldn't want him spending unnecessary money on him for learning at home.

After that, he spent three hours of homework when it would take a normal person working through it normally maybe 45 minutes. It didn't matter to him, he wanted to be impressive the next day, too.

After that, he cleaned up a little bit, and found a vacuum in the closet. He knew what it was by walking past a thrift store and seeing one. That was when he was six, three months after being abandoned. Back when he used to be interested in things. He had asked the shop lady what it was, and she explained it, as well as a broom.

He had no money to buy and no home to use it at, but now that curiosity paid off. He took it out and vacuumed the apartment, lifting the couch easily, as well as his bed and dresser. He avoided Hawks' room, even if the door was wide open. He seemed to do this on purpose, Luffy thought. Maybe he knew Luffy wouldn't go inside, but also was showing that he wasn't hiding anything. From what he could see from the open door, it was a normal bedroom looking like Luffy's except there was a plastic bin with feathers in it. Maybe he shed them?

And there was a master bathroom attached, but he hadn't seen it, was just told about it. Luffy opened a few windows to get fresh air in. This place was comfortable. He didn't mind being there all day. He'd been outside for three years, some time in a comfortable indoor environment was great.

After Hawks came back, they had leftovers of the chicken last night, and Luffy hesitantly asked Hawks how his day was, since Luffy's was boring to talk about. He noticed the cleaning carpet and kitchen and thanked Luffy for doing that.

"There was a car pile up on the freeway not far from here. I was able to get everyone to safety before the semi that hit everything ended up exploding. It'll be a mess to clean up. I'm not too good strength wise so I can't pick up heavy objects like cars, but I am good with evacuation and smaller crimes," he explained. "So, not too boring."

He then asked if he wanted to practice flying again that night. Luffy nodded, actually looking forward to that more than anything else. He wanted to be good enough to fly as soon as possible. Not that he knew if Hawks would let him fly by himself, since he was still a kid, even if he'd looked after himself for years.

They tried the bungee cord again, this time making it so Luffy was far above the surface of the flat roof. He was flying in circles. Hawks was holding the inner wing up in case it dipped too much, correcting his position so he didn't fall or mess up. He was told to try and increase the height, which was easy as it was just angling his wings up and then down.

He was stupid and tried to impress Hawks by doing a twirl that actually worked, even if he wobbled a bit at the end. Hawks laughed and said not to push it fast. It takes time to fly safely and with the utmost control. Luffy still thought he was impressive.

Why did he want to be impressive? Probably because he felt like he wasn't a waste of space if he was praised. He took the laugh in a good way, not a dismissal or cruel intended laugh. After over an hour of circles and wobbles, Hawks called it a night. "I'll widen the area so you can fly in larger circles around the edges of the building, but not too close that you'd fall." Luffy nodded and pushed the wings back in and dropped a few feet to the roof, being unhooked.

"You're a fast learner, I doubt it will take too long for you to be able to fly by yourself," he said. Another praise that Luffy hid a smile and kept in a thank you. He was trying to not be friends with him, but Hawk was likable. He probably would like him less if Luffy was or was planning to be a hero in the future.

He had no idea what he wanted to do in the future, but that was over a decade away. Well, at least six years away, considering what high school he went to. He had watched the news with Hawks on the first night despite trying to pretend he wasn't, when he was sitting behind the couch. UA was a prestigious school that had won an award that year.

But there were other high schools listed there, UA just was number one with whatever the competition and award were for. He didn't care much, and had gone into his room after that. But high school was far away. He didn't have to make a big choice in awhile. He would probably go to a normal school.


	3. Life Improvement

**Anime_Moon00: Hawks is the cool, young uncle lol.**

#### IdiedWithSadheart: The answer would be a spoiler for later so will give no details. And don't worry about me overworking! This story is finished. I only get overwhelmed when I have 8 stories I have to finish editing. -_- But that's my own doing lol. 

#### CookieQueen: There are lots of bonding moments and joking around. Since things get pretty emotional and upsetting later, Hawks gotta be there for his charge.

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**Posted a new story, go check it out! Enjoy~**

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He stayed in his room the rest of the night, but didn't sleep right away. He unfurled the wings after growing them from his shoulder blades and touched the room from side to side with the long feathers. They took up the entire bedroom, which wasn't too small itself. The wings would be impractical to use inside, but that was a given. He was just glad he could make them go away, too. More convenient that way.

On the day that marked a week since coming there, the tutor finally said something about his dedication and speed. She said something he wasn't expecting. "Do you have a quirk that enhances intelligence, Luffy?" Luffy furrowed his brows and shook his head. Where was this going? "Your understanding of math and writing already exceed any students I've tutored. If you keep up this speed, you can clear first grade material in only a few weeks, when it would usually be months."

Luffy looked surprised, and asked why she said that, "You learned multiplication on your own from the look ahead section of your packet." Luffy awkwardly said he wanted to do well at school. Didn't want to be a burden. That part had slipped out and he pressed his lips together. She said nothing at the last sentence. "I am impressed with your progress," she said with a true smile.

The boy asked if he could have some homework to look ahead for the next week. He had a weekend, even if he didn't know what he'd be doing to pass the time. She nodded, saying she'd prepared one, expecting him to want to look ahead just by how much homework he did and went over.

For the tracing letters and numbers, he'd done it so many times the paper had almost ripped open. She gave him two packets. He thanked her on her way out, staring at the packets at the coffee table. She said he was smart. Smart, and powerful. Why was he abandoned? He sighed, knowing he'd never know and there was no point in thinking about it.

While he waited for Hawks to come back, he played the video game. It felt more personal now that he was using the player's quirk. Really, it was kind of ridiculous. But convenient. And stupid. When Hawks did come, Luffy asked if he could try making food. Hawks asked him if he knew how a stove worked. "No," Luffy replied honestly. Hawks said "maybe he will be next".

Luffy huffed and went back to the couch, still not sitting on it. "How did the tutoring go?" Luffy was embarrassed to tell him, but it wasn't something to be ashamed of.

"She sorta said she's never tutored someone who caught onto stuff so fast and that I might be able to finish earlier than she expected," he said quietly. "She gave me extra homework cause I asked for it."

"That's great," Hawks said earnestly. Luffy's face was red. "Is there a reason you try so hard? You don't need to go 120%, you know," he pointed out.

Luffy replied that feeling smart was nice. That it made him feel like he might be worth something. Hawks frowned deeply. "You are worth something, Luffy. I know it's hard to stop thinking of yourself in a negative light, but you're worth something, I promise." Luffy looked down, his face still red in embarrassment and shame.

Hawks was making breakfast for dinner, whatever that meant. But after he was done, Luffy knew what he meant. Eggs, sausage and bacon. In huge servings to accommodate Luffy's appetite. He'd put his school work away in his room so everything was clean and the coffee table wasn't cluttered with papers and pencils.

Luffy slowly asked him if he shed his feathers, having seen feathers in a bin in his room when he walked past the door, making sure Hawks knew he hadn't gone in his room. "Yeah, some come out naturally. Not alarmingly, it's how it's always been."

After dinner and desert, which they finished off the tub of mint ice cream, they were back to the roof and Luffy got to fly in circles around the top of the building in a much more relaxed length of the cord. He was able to turn one way and would practice the other by stopping, turning around and then flying up into the air again.

He was grinning the whole time, and challenged himself by flying up vertically and then flying at a higher elevation, putting his arms out and able to fly. He almost laughed. Almost. Hawks was then next to him. "You are a fast learner. Looks like not just in academics. I'll take you to a more deserted area on my self-proclaimed break day tomorrow and we can try to have you actually fly."

Luffy was surprised. "So soon?" he asked over the wind, wearing sunglasses since Hawks was wearing his own. He told Luffy he'd no doubt get bored of only using the roof and rope. "Boredom is the worst." Luffy knew that was true. Some boredom was better than others. Like being bored on his bed was not too bad, as he was comfortable and relaxed.

He landed heavily, still not used with how to land. Hawks landed perfectly next to him. They went back inside and Luffy ended up eating a peanut and butter sandwich before going to bed. Hawks said, "Be ready for tomorrow." Luffy nodded, wondering where they would be going. He hoped he'd fly and not fall and embarrass himself. But even with his wings out, he was lighter than Hawks, who he knew could help him get to the ground safely. He had trouble sleeping, excited for something for the first time in awhile. He had looked forward to the flying sessions, but he was being trusted not to totally screw it up.

He finally fell asleep and got to sleep in until 9:00 before getting up and walking to the bathroom in a haze, forgetting Hawks was there. When he came out in new clothes, he put the dirty laundry in the hamper that was in his room and went to get food before jumping when he saw Hawks on the couch.

"Forget I was here?" he asked in light amusement. Luffy blushed and nodded, going for cereal. He asked where they were going, still embarrassed. "Nikko national park. There's a large body of water that I'll have you flying over first. Not many tourists that deep in, but I can fly you in pretty far," he explained.

Luffy was interested, never having been to a park before. But that meant if he fell it'd be into a lake. Better than on sharp rocks or trees. Hawks packed some food and water and gave Luffy a shirt that had a cut out back where the wings could come out from without tearing the fabric and ruining the shirt.

He thanked him and put it on, taking off the shirt he'd put on. They went to the parking lot that Luffy saw had an interior parking garage, and they were using a different car than before. Luffy didn't ask why, but Hawks explained. "This car is one that fans don't know I have. Tinted windows so no one can see it's me inside." Luffy nodded and they went into the car.

Luffy really was small but the roof was tall for Hawks' wings. It looked stupid from the outside. He was wringing his hands in worry. "You don't need to worry, nobody is gonna be watching and I'll make sure you don't fall and die." Luffy frowned at him but didn't reply. The drive was silent, though not awkwardly because Luffy wasn't in a bad mood, looking at everything out the window that they were driving past. The world he didn't remember ever seeing.

Maybe if he'd been brave enough to venture out of the slums, he might have had a better life. Still a street rat, but not surrounded by terrible smells and terrible people. Soon the city life faded away and they were driving into the park on a more rural road. There was a parking lot that they parked in. Hawks got behind Luffy, and asked if he was ready. Luffy nodded and Hawks picked him up before flying into the park and to the water body he was talking about. It was huge, plenty of room to fly safely. Luffy was excited.

They landed on the shore and Hawks put their stuff down before sitting on a rock. "Do you want me to fly next to you if you fall?" he asked in an easy going voice. Luffy shook his head.

"If I fall, I'll get wet. I don't care," Luffy replied. Hawks pointed out he'd still need to fish Luffy out of the water. Luffy shook his head, saying he could take care of getting out. "Saw someone having bubbles on the soles of their shoes to stand on water. So I can use that," he said. He formed his wings, nervous to fail. He took a few deep breaths and then flapped the wings hard enough to raise him off the ground.

There was less wind here, but that didn't matter. He was slowly flying and gliding until he pumped his wings harder and was at the other side in an instant confused and falling into the water with a huge splash. His wings got soggy so he made them go away. Hawks flew over. "That's probably due to All Might's power. You went too fast. Try going slower like we did on the roof," Hawks said, right above the surface of the water.

Luffy nodded and climbed out of the water, standing on the surface and forming wings that weren't wet anymore. He raised himself again and flew much more slowly, matching Hawks pace. He was smiling and looking down at the water as he saw himself flying from below. It was amazing. Hawks told him to try a spiral above the water, still flying next to him.

The child nodded and slowly inclined and went in circles, spiraling up higher very slowly. Hawks flew next to him, grinning. "Pretty cool, huh?" he asked. Luffy was smiling and nodded.

"Really cool," he agreed, speaking loudly over the wind in his ears. He increased the steepness of his incline and got higher and higher until the water was smaller. The wind was higher up here and Hawks told him to come back down a bit before he was blown away. Luffy nodded and angled downwards and spiraled downwards, running his fingers in the water as he cruised above it.

It was nice having a shirt on, it wasn't too cold this way. Though the shirt with the back cut out felt a little weird, it was better than being shirtless. And to be honest, he couldn't care less if people saw his scars. They were on his arms and legs as well. He couldn't hide those, so why hide any of them?

The ones on his back were in full view if the wings weren't in the way. He looked to the wing tips, seeing how the end feathers just barely moved. "I think this will be my dominant quirk. And using All Might's strength when I want to," Luffy announced once he crash landed, landing on the ground on his knees. They got skinned a bit, but nothing concerning or painful. He got rid of the wings.

Hawks sat down and said, "You already showed you could go faster by using All Might's strength. I think it would be a great combo. I'll teach you how to attack from above some time. After you're a pro at flying. You did awesome for the first time. It took my years to be able to fly once my wings were big enough to carry my weight," the hero explained as he ate a granola bar.

Luffy smiled a small smile before wiping it off when he noticed Hawks looking triumphant at it. "Is it wrong, to have a quirk that just steals others'?" Luffy asked quietly, looking at the sand below him, rubbing his boot on it absentmindedly.

"No. There are multiple quirks where someone copies anothers. Yours just is long term and you can hold more than one. Besides, you've already made your own quirk by combining them. That person in the video game doesn't have super strength, and All Might doesn't have wings. That's your quirk now." He looked up at the sky and added, "A strong bird, huh? I'm sure we'll come with a name suitable. Could be a quirk with wings and the strongest body."

Luffy asked if there were huge birds that were that strong. "Maybe prehistoric birds, I'm not sure," Hawks replied smoothly. Then he changed the subject. "Want to try flying up the river? I'll fly under you just in case." Luffy was all for that and Hawks put the bag on, which was diagonal, the strap going between his wings.

They both got into the air, Luffy's body a lot smaller than his but his wings span around the same if not a little bigger. They flew over the river that led to the lake, and Luffy thought everything was amazing. It was so beautiful, he'd never been anywhere so gorgeous. He might want to make coming here a regular trip.

"How long do you think it would take to fly here?" he asked. Hawks says probably not as long as the drive if he went at his fastest speed. But he firmly said he wouldn't be flying somewhere this far by himself. He was okay with that. He was quiet for a moment before he finally outright said it. "Thank you for saving me. Even if you ever kick me out, thank you."

Hawks replied easily, "You're welcome. You can have a bad attitude, but I like you. I won't kick you out, though. Even if you accidentally burn down our building, I still wouldn't kick you out. Just make sure you don't do anything to go to jail." Luffy grinned, glad he couldn't see his face.

Luffy wasn't offended by him openly saying Luffy could have bad attitude. But the way he said it didn't sound like a reprimand, just a fact. "If I haven used any of my powers for crime, pretty sure I won't do so now that I'm not on the street." Hawks asked why he never used any of his powers to protect himself. "Didn't want to go to jail. I heard someone say using your quirk against other people was illegal," he said simply.

Hawks said, "Personally, I think there should be exceptions. Many times people would be safer using their quirk against someone aiming to hurt them. But you can still get in a lot of trouble even if it is self defense." Luffy hadn't wanted to risk anything. Living on the street in poverty was bad, but he didn't want to go to jail. "Besides, you're only 8. Pretty sure they'd make a case for you that you wouldn't get into any trouble."

Luffy hoped that was right, not that it seemed to matter anymore. They flew up the river and up a waterfall. It would be bad if Luffy fell into the rapids. Well, it would be bad for any human. Luffy wanted to know more people other than Hawks. Literally the only person he ever remembered really talking to.

He wanted friends, had always wanted friends. Now that he was out of that hell hole, he was in reach of friends. School. He wouldn't need to tell people about his quirk. His real one, as he'd decided to claim this one and the power of All Might that he couldn't turn off to be his quirk. It felt nice, Hawks was right about how awesome the flight was. Did he even need a car? He could just fly from places. But how would he carry groceries home? He'd probably need a car then.

But flying could definitely replace a bike.

"I promise I won't become a criminal. I've been around enough to be turned away from that line of work."

Hawks said, in surprise, "Wow, it looks like you do have a sense of humor." Luffy scowled but didn't reply. He was quiet as they left the river behind and flew up the mountain, Hawks still below to catch him if he fell. Then he told Hawks that he wanted to go to school. "I promise you'll have that opportunity. You just gotta catch up to your age group, then you can go to whatever school you want."

Luffy asked if he would have to drive him every day. He didn't want to be a burden anymore than he was. That was apparent in his voice. "An assisted flight to whatever school you want. Wings aren't just for show, even if you aren't a hero," he replied easily. "Why don't we go back down and get something to eat. I'm hungry," the pro-hero said. Luffy agreed and carefully turned around before going down hill.

"Can I try going fast?" Hawks was hesitant, but agreed he could try it. He said Luffy seemed a natural at it, so he didn't see much of a risk. Luffy took a deep breath and then pumped his wings as fast as he could, jetting down the mountain, over the river, and to the lake. He slowed as best as he could, but ended up crashing into the lake again. He just laughed at himself. He didn't notice this was the first time he ever remembered laughing in his entire life.

The glasses had cracked from the pressure of the wind against them. His hair was a crazy mess, and he climbed out of the water and ran to the shore. It took another two minutes for Hawks to arrive, Luffy dried off by turning into fire and evaporating the water. Hawks landed next to him and asked if he'd crashed.

Luffy nodded, saying he couldn't figure out how to slow down. "I won't be using that speed unless I'm somewhere safe," he decided.

"That's a good idea. C'mon, we still have to fly back to the car." Luffy nodded and brought out his wings to fly with him this time instead of being carried. He really could get used to this. But always having these huge wings out, would it be annoying and hard to get used to? Hawks had them since he was a child, he grew up with them.

"Was it hard, when you got your wings? At four?" Luffy asked once they were in the car.

"Yeah. But I got professional training from a hero and government organization. It was annoying at first, I remember that feeling. But I know it didn't take long for me to start liking them, even when I couldn't fly. You don't have to have yours out all the time, since you can suck them back in." Luffy wondered if people would think it was suspicious. "Probably not. Mutants might be jealous since some have trouble from their own body deformations."

The child nodded, saying he wouldn't have them out all the time. They went to a restaurant that he seemed to know well, since the employees there brought the two to a table out of view from most. "This is a restaurant heroes come to a lot for privacy. Photos aren't allowed to be taken here, and you have to give them your cell phones to make sure," Hawks explained while Luffy looked at the menu.

He was looking at the pictures since he couldn't read. There was something he recognized that he decided was a safe bet. He pointed to the spaghetti and meatballs, since he'd had spaghetti before. "You should try new things," he advised.

"I don't know what anything is. I don't recognize any of the pictures," Luffy said honestly. He'd decided. Hawks was honest with him, seemed sincere. Luffy would be honest to him as both a way to repay his own honesty, and because he felt like Hawks wouldn't make fun of him unless it was something stupid.

"I'll buy us a lot of stuff then, so you can try. Don't try and stop me, I like to eat, too," the pro-hero said when Luffy started to say he didn't need a lot. So he nodded. While they waited for the huge amount of food, Hawks asked him if he had any hobbies. An innocent question that Luffy didn't have an answer to.

"I don't know," he said simply. "I don't know what my interests or hobbies are, if I haven't any. It never mattered." Hawks frowned at that. He looked at him in pity, and Luffy bristled as a knee jerk reaction, but didn't say anything about it.

He took a sip of his coke and replied, "Well, I guess we'll figure out somehow. Maybe you can draw or some shit. You don't seem overly interested in the video games so far, maybe you'll like to read once you can."

Luffy said he didn't want to have unnecessary spending on him. "Luffy, I'm the number three top pro-hero. I think I can spend some money on you if I want to." Luffy's face turned red and the food came. Luffy had gotten a lemonade that he was drinking too quickly. He was asked if he wanted a refill, and Hawks saved him from looking stupid and asking what she meant.

"Yeah," Hawks said for him. "I'm glad I don't need to worry about you making a mess with food," he added. Luffy served himself a bit of each dish, asking what they were before tasting them. They all tasted good, he didn't know food could taste so good. He'd never been able to make anything but simple food. Food that wasn't nutritious, but kept him from starving.

After they were done, they headed back to the Hawks Agency/his new place of residence. He fell asleep on the way. Hawks chuckled at it, and said, "Man, you really are a kid. Sometimes I forget," quietly.

When they got back to the building, he woke Luffy up. "C'mon, we're back. Time to wake up, sleepyhead," Hawks said in a teasing voice. Luffy frowned and got out of the car and made it to the elevator, Hawks coming from behind and saying hello to his workers, even if he still had the rest of the day off.

Luffy really enjoyed the flying. It had been the most freeing experience he'd ever had, Hawks was right about if from the beginning. And he was glad he wasn't stealing his quirk, but some nameless actor from a videogame where he didn't remember the title.

He would make that quirk his, in his own way. Luffy would try it, merging quirks to make him the strongest he wanted in his own way. He had two down, All Might's power and his new wings.

It was later that day that Hawks named the strongest bird that had ever lived as "Argentavis magnificens." A huge and strong prehistoric bird. Argentavis. That was his quirk's new name. The strongest bird. He smiled, actually looking forward to what was to come.


	4. First Day Of School and a First Friend

**Anime_Moon00: Thank you! This is the last chapter of a fatherly-Hawks. He turns into the cool uncle who jokes around and makes fun of Luffy (and vice-versa). I don't think he'd raise a kid either in canon, but from the next chapter on, it's more like Luffy is the parent to him sometimes. He's immature lol. Luffyis kind of OOC, but it's partly from his childhood life. And though I know a lot of time is supposed to have passed over the time taking care of Luffy, I kept Hawks how he was in the anime/manga. Mature, adult-like Hawks would be boring! lol.**

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**Shorter chapter, but I had to stop here since this is the last chapter of Luffy when he was young. So, the last of the sort of epilogue. Enjoy~**

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"What do you mean?"

"He's finished his education he needs to catch up," Anise told Hawks three months later. Hawks was, for the first time Luffy had seen, actually shocked. He looked at Luffy with wide eyes. "I've said he is gifted, I just didn't know he'd plow through everything so fast." Luffy was blushing fiercely, embarrassed about being under the spotlight.

"But he's a third grader. He had to learn first, second and third," Hawks said. Anise was patient, knowing it was shocking.

She nodded. "Yes, that's why I'm surprised. He didn't rush, look at this grade sheet of the weekly tests we've done," and the tutor showed him a sheet of paper showing he had 100/100 on every quiz. Then there were the five essays and the two books he had to read. Hawks grinned triumphantly. "He will need to go ahead to fourth grade or he'd be learning nothing new."

Luffy was fiddling with his pencil, sitting down at the coffee table, watching the interaction through the corner of his eyes. Anise had told him last week that he was nearly done, but he was shocked himself. Luffy was smart. He wasn't incompetent, incapable of learning anything. He'd never really shared all of his grades with Hawks, so this was a surprise to him.

Argentavis had also been improved. Many crashes into the lake and Luffy could turn after using his full speed. He still couldn't stay in place, flapping the wings fast enough like Hawks could, but he had done well. Aside from his schooling and quirk training, he'd learned how to cook good food, asking Hawks to teach him how to use the stove and given a cookbook. He was actually useful, other than his cleaning of the apartment.

He felt like he had a future. And after staying with the pro-hero for a couple months, he wanted to help him with his work. He wanted to be a sidekick. Hawks had told him he had to get credentials, even if he learned a lot just by being with him. He'd have to go to a high school with a hero program. He was fine with that.

Luffy wanted to make Hawks proud. He had no identity since he was so young and had blocked out any of his first five years of life, so he was staying with Hawks. He was his friend. Luffy had asked one day, "What are we, Hawks? You're not my dad, or my brother." Hawks easily said he was his friend, reading a book on the couch not looking up. Luffy was fine with being friends. Close friends, clearly.

The child hadn't been noticed by the news media, staying inside most of the time. He wasn't trapped there, but determined to advance in his studies at full throttle. The only times he went out with Hawks was to do quirk training or when they went to restaurants that mostly served them in secret.

Luffy had had no idea how many hero restaurants there were. But there were a lot, and that was nice. Hawks charmed the restaurant staff for recipes for Luffy. The kid always felt happy when he got a new recipe. He'd started a fire _once,_ but Hawks didn't know about that as he'd extinguished it in no time and then cleaned up the charred mess.

But, he was far from being so inept at cooking that he'd cause a fire. He was useful to Hawks, even if it was only cooking and cleaning. It was really the only thing he could do to repay his kindness and generosity.

"So, we can start school, then?" Hawks asked Anise. She nodded, but said she needed to bring him tests to take to prove he is as educated as she is claiming, as well as go into the schools and speak to the leaders about him being put in a grade higher than others his age. Luffy's heart was beating really fast. He would go to school, meet others his age.

Wait, they wouldn't be his age. He'd be a year younger. He spoke up, asking, "Can I just join third grade late? I want to make friends, I might not while being a year younger than them." Anise pointed out that he'd be learning things he already knew. "I can make sure I learned everything. And I would be smart, too."

"You are already incredibly intelligent, you'd have to fake it." Luffy said he would do that, he wanted friends, he wanted to be as normal as he could be. "I guess that's alright. I'll be back tomorrow with proper paperwork to start the enrollment process. It is easier to enroll in elementary schools than junior or high school."

Luffy was grinning and Hawks looked pretty happy, too. She left, saying she'd see them the next day, and that it was a pleasure to tutor someone so determined and dedicated. Luffy was blushing the whole time and she left. Hawks closed the front door. "You didn't tell me how well you were doing," he said casually, not sounding accusing at all.

"I didn't want to get your hopes up only to fail in the end," Luffy replied honestly. He took his supplies - pencils, pens, notebook - to his room, which had a bookshelf that now had many books on it. Ones that he could read. He wasn't advanced, he was a bit above average. He was still 8 years old.

Hawks said he would have liked to know how well he was doing. "Well, when you go to school you have to tell me how it's going." Luffy grinned and nodded. He was so happy he'd be going to school like a normal person. "Man, I didn't think a little homeless boy riddled with nails would be so smart and talented. I'm impressed, truly."

Luffy was bashful and hid his red face. "I'm sure you'll make friends. Might be hard at first, but it'll happen." Luffy nodded, knowing he wasn't the average kid, and meeting other children might be awkward for him at first. But he'd learn and adapt. He would make friends, he was determined to.

Maybe he could even go to their houses to hang out! He wouldn't be bringing friends over here, even if Hawks said it was okay. This was a workplace, Hawks' home, and Luffy wouldn't risk making a ruckus or mess.

It was decided that that night was a celebration night, and they were going to Luffy's favorite restaurant, even if it was expensive. Hawks didn't seem to need to worry about money at all. Luffy still didn't like him spending money on him, but he had stopped protesting when Hawks showed him the amount of money in his bank account so he could finally know for sure that Hawks really was rich, and Luffy's costs weren't burdening him.

He could tell the man genuinely cared about Luffy, even if he didn't fully understand why. He resigned to the fact that he might never feel completely worth any money or kindness. He had to deal with that, and wouldn't let it interfere with his happiness. He'd try his best at that.

Luffy was in a great mood during dinner, eating his large servings from the Mongolian grill. His bowl was stuffed with food and he ate it happily. "You sure are smiling a lot. It's kind of weird." Luffy narrowed his eyes and Hawks just said he was kidding. "You should smile more, you look approachable when you smile. Not like your scowls. Okay, I promise, I'm joking. We gotta pick what elementary school you want to go to, now," he said, completely changing the subject.

"I know, but I don't know where to look, or what to look _for,"_ he replied honestly. Hawks said they could look that night. But he had to wait another week to start. Another week didn't matter if he'd already learned what he did in third grade. Hawks always stuck to schedule, on his break day and his work hours.

He was the boss, he made the rules, but even if he looked laid back and easy going, he still worked hard at his job and was responsible. "That's fine," Luffy said, meaning it. "Will it be weird, since don't you have to sign paperwork and stuff?"

"It's fine, the public knows about you, it just hasn't caught speed yet. If you want, you don't need to tell anyone else who I am. If you don't want to be influenced by my name." Luffy thought for a minute before asking if anything would change because of that. "It's possible. I'm not sure how much it would affect anything, but it might make things either easier or more difficult."

Luffy was silent for a moment. "I want to make a name for myself. I like you a lot and am happy you saved me, but I want people to know me for me instead of your friend or charge or something," Luffy said in a strong voice. Too strong for his age. He missed out on the mentality of being a child. But that wasn't going to change, he'd always know the things he learned in an unfortunate way. But, he would try to make his situation as normal as he could.

"Big talk for a third grader," Hawks said, though with a fond smile. Luffy narrowed his eyes at him, but there was no heat in it. "We'll still have training days." Luffy nodded, perfectly happy with that.

He hesitantly asked who would pick him up. Depending on where he went, it might take awhile to get to him. "A 20 minute break should be enough to fly with you to wherever you choose. You wanted to fly to school, right?" Luffy nodded. "Then we'll do that. Quick and easy. But we'll have to go at a regular speed." He nodded again, smiling as he ate, though not big grins.

-x-

A week later, Luffy was enrolled in a nice public school. Nothing fancy or expensive, but it was in a nice part of town and in a neighborhood with really rich houses. So, no criminal activity. That was why they picked a place in this area. Luffy wouldn't be exposed to that environment again.

It was Monday morning, and Luffy had his sling backpack on, since he couldn't wear a regular backpack with his wings while flying. He could carry it, but that would be annoying. "Good luck, Luffy. Call me when school is out," he said and gave Luffy a shoulder squeeze before flying off. He'd bought Luffy a basic tracphone. Nothing like a smartphone, but something to be able to contact the pro-hero when needed.

Luffy was in front of the school, and opened the front door before absorbing his huge wings. It would look weird to someone who saw the top half of the back of his shirt gone. It wasn't just cut out, Hawks had gotten him personalized clothes. Like his own, to accommodate wings. Luffy was nervous. There were two months left of the year, so it might seem weird to people for him to show up this late, but it didn't matter to him.

He held his backpack nervously. "Everyone, this is Luffy. He'll be joining class from today onward," the kind teacher said, named Ms. Levy. Luffy bowed to the class, looking nervous. Some had mutant quirks, but most looked like an average person. He already felt new quirks being added to his list of stored ones. He only used two, so these ones were inconsequential.

"Hey, what's your quirk?" a boy with red hair and freckles asked. Ms. Levy told him it wasn't a nice question to ask of a stranger, but Luffy didn't mind and grew his wings before spreading them out. "Wow! Those are pretty," a girl said. They were surprised when Luffy absorbed the wings back so there wasn't a trace they were there.

"Now, pick any empty seat you want, Luffy-kun," the teacher said and Luffy nodded, walking to the desk in the back, next to a grumpy looking boy with red and white hair with a bad burn on his face.

Luffy could tell this wasn't a happy go lucky boy, and Luffy didn't need to act that way. He seemed grumpy and closed off as well, barely giving Luffy a second look. Luffy's face relaxed back into the natural frown.

During recess he played with the other kids at the playground, or raced. Quirks weren't allowed to be used at recess since many children this age still weren't in full control of their powers and could possibly be dangerous. He had fun until somebody asked him about his scars. Todoroki, as Luffy had heard his name, was listening.

He knew his burns were completely visible in the hole in his shirt from behind. "My family threw me out of a moving car when I was five. I have road rash on my arms, thighs, back and chest." The kids were all silent in shock and horror before they expressed sympathy for him. "It's okay, I'm not ashamed of them or anything," he assured them.

"You don't live with those people anymore, right?"

"No, I live with somebody else," he said, voice sounding affirmative and even third graders knew when to not ask more. Maybe it was because of his past he'd told them that made them less nosy. Maybe thinking he was in another bad situation. That's what he hypothesized.

After recess, they went back inside to do organized reading. It was a lot different learning with other people, but was fun. He had to pay close attention to the book they were reading so he could read the paragraph he was assigned. He noticed Todoroki glancing at him a lot. So, during lunch, he asked him why he was watching him.

The other boy looked away, clearly not happy he'd been caught. "Why did they throw you out? What did you do?" Luffy replied honestly that he didn't remember doing anything, didn't remember that time of his life. "This scar is also from my family," he said, pointing to the mark on his face. "Looks like we both had bad home lives."

Luffy nodded in agreement, but they were both sad. Todoroki ended up being his first friend, because they both sustained marks from child abuse. A weird thing to bond over, but it was nicer to be friends with someone who at least partly understood some of his experience. He wouldn't bring his homelessness up. That was unnecessary, and he wanted to leave that life far behind.

After class, after taking homework into his backpack, he stood outside and called Hawks. "I'm out of school," he said, voice light and happy. The first day hadn't been bad at all! Todoroki walked home, living in one of the fancy houses. Hawks flew over, landing on the roof and grinned.

Luffy grew out his wings and flew home with him. "How'd it go?" he asked.

"Good! I think I'm friends with someone already," Luffy said. Hawks asked who it was. "His name is Todoroki. He got abused by his parents, too." The pro-hero was obviously surprised by this.

"So… you bonded because both of you sustained child abuse?" he asked slowly.

Luffy said, "Yeah. His mom poured boiling water onto his face." Hawks looked angry, but Luffy made sure to tell him it happened years ago, and that type of thing doesn't happen anymore. He talked about the rest of his day on the way home. They landed in the open window before Hawks said he had to go back down to work. Luffy nodded. He was a normal kid, and he knew by now that just because Hawks worked a tight shift didn't mean he didn't like Luffy or anything of the sort. He got to work on his homework, but finished it without even looking at the textbook. Well, less of a book and more of a packet.

He was so happy with his first day of school, and couldn't wait for the next.


	5. A New Chapter Begins

#### Wildcherrykid101: Thank you!

#### Anime_Moon00: Their relationship started out like that. You know how when you don't know people you learn common interests? The abuse is something they had in common, but is definitely not why they stayed friends. 

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**Luffy's childhood section is over! Enjoy~**

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"Luffy, time to practice," Hawks said through the door, waking the teen up. He was fourteen now, had graduated elementary school and was in the second year of junior high. He moved his wings to get out of the blankets easier. He'd gotten used to them being fully out at all times. He made the choice to keep them out rather than feel the pain of sucking them back in.

It was just easier to have them out all the time. Hawks could do it his whole life, Luffy could too. He put a shirt on and then went out of the room to cook breakfast. It was a practice day, like they always had in the mornings that Hawks was off work. He'd kept Luffy for five years, now. By now, the public knew about him and didn't bother him anymore.

Luffy did his best to stay out of the news, and Hawks wasn't in the news much either, so there was pretty much no real breach of privacy that Luffy had experienced. "How are they feeling?" Hawks asked, having made food that morning.

"Fine. Stretching last night helped a lot," Luffy replied. "Hey, don't drink from the carton! I tell you that all the time." Hawks grinned and opened the fridge to show an unopened bottle of orange juice. Luffy huffed, shaking his head but not in irritation.

Luffy's wings had become like Hawks now that he was unable to pull them back in without causing tearing. They ached if they weren't moved around for long periods of time and they shed feathers. He was still fully able to use other quirks, but had stuck to two for the five years since he'd been taken in.

The super strength and his Argentavis were what he used usually. Knowing he was overpowered when he wanted to be always annoyed him, so he stuck with two quirks no matter how many he collected each day just by passing people on the street.

"We're going long distance today. As in across the country long distance," Hawks said conversationally. Luffy was surprised with that distance. They could both fly without tiring for many hours, but Luffy had never flown so far as across the country. He asked why. "Mirko told me about a good sushi place in Aomori."

"Okay. How long do you think it will take? Will you be able to keep up?" Luffy asked with a smirk. Hawks looked at him unimpressed.

"Look, you can't let anyone know you're faster than I am. It'll be bad for my image, you know," Hawks replied easily. Luffy pointed out that he couldn't control his feathers like Hawks, so it was kind of useless to compare them. "You'll make a good delivery boy." Luffy scowled. "Just kidding. It should take four hours to get there and four hours to get back."

Luffy nodded, knowing this was just practice and Hawks didn't actually want to travel four hours to get some sushi. "I thought you and Mirko got in an argument."

"I'm not a kid, arguments don't turn into pouting sessions." Luffy pointed out that he hadn't said that. "As an apology she gave me a coupon to the sushi place. That's all I can expect and I'm not gonna waste her act of kindness," he said in a light voice. Luffy could recognize his sarcasm by now, even if it was hard to pinpoint for most people.

It was winter right now, so Luffy wore his jacket that Hawks helped clip from behind around the bases of his wings. Honestly, he couldn't really remember the convenience of not keeping his wings out. But, that was long gone and this was the new normal. And he wouldn't ever trade his wings for convenience. If Hawks dealt with it, he could too.

He still wanted to be a sidekick, so he wouldn't do any less a job that Hawks could. In his own way. They put on their goggles and headphones, though they could talk to each other through mics and speakers inside the headphones since talking over the wind was annoying. Constantly Luffy asking him to repeat what he said and Hawks teasing him about it. So this way was easier. They jumped out of the open window and Luffy followed where Hawks was going with his GPS on a smartwatch. It was fancy and didn't go with his casual attire. Luffy made fun of it even though he secretly wanted one but was too stubborn to ask.

It was windy, so they easily glided and barely had to flap their wings except to accelerate. Luffy lost track of time when they were flying. He could fly for five hours and not notice until he got a call from Hawks saying he was hungry. Luffy made dinner, but not because Hawks made him. He was kind of a control freak with how he did the meals.

It had become quite ridiculous, and Luffy always wanted to be the one to cook. It was just how things ended up. They were gliding on their way to the stupid sushi bar when suddenly everything was more visiblE and he could hear everything going on. "Whoa, what the hell," Luffy said. He signaled he needed to land, and they declined and easily landed on the sidewalk.

"What's wrong?" Hawks asked.

"Everything is… more intense. I can hear everything and see more," he said, putting his hands over his ears. The sound came through even through his hands. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, pushing it away. "Okay, I got it under control." Where he gained new quirks, there was always an introduction moment before he pushed it away.

The image in his head was of a filing cabinet where he stored away quirks, able to sort through them by category. It was hard to explain. "I'm good, we can go," Luffy said and both of them shot up. Hawks looked uneasy. "I'm fine, I swear."

"I know, it's just weird it came out of nowhere," the pro-hero pointed out. Luffy nodded in agreement, but it was out of the way and he was again focused on his two quirks that he made into one by infusing the strength into his wings. He could carry very heavy things while flying, and had actually carried a car out of a river when Hawks was rescuing the people but his feathers couldn't get into the sinking car.

So Luffy literally swooped in and saved the day. It had been on the news for a short period of time before fizzling away when he declined to comment. But he wasn't allowed to do actual hero work without a license. He was impatient to get one. He knew that Hawks didn't take him in to turn him into a mini version of himself or a sidekick, it was just that things ended up with him wanting to be a helper, legally.

They made it to the sushi bar in record time. They were there maybe 25 minutes before walking back out. "That was not an apology coupon, she sent us to a nasty sushi bar," Luffy said, laughing at Hawks disgruntled expression, him knowing that was true. Mirko probably gave it to him since she knew it was far away and wanted to cause him trouble.

"Well, it wasn't a day wasted, we got plenty of stretching and you've already done your homework and a half. I don't understand you, Luffy. Why do you want to work ahead so badly? You haven't missed a day of school since fifth grade and you are never late."

Luffy said, "I like being a good student, and feeling smart and on top of things makes me more confident." Even though his quirks were powerful, he was great at school and his grades were all at 100% and the fact that he lived in a caring place didn't take away the lack of confidence that he felt would always be there. That he was abandoned, but not just left on the street. He was chucked out of a car. That stuck with him once he felt stable in other ways.

Hawks never told him he should be confident anymore since that made Luffy feel worse. "Hey, Todoroki might actually laugh for once if you told him about this," Hawks said, changing the subject. They both drank some water before making the peaceful journey back.

Luffy liked hanging out on the roof, and had a little area set up to relax and listen to the city bustling or music in headphones. It was peaceful to him. "I told you, he's happy when no one else is around. I'm just the only one to actually see it." He grinned at it, shaking his head. It was hard to get Todoroki to laugh, but it was doable for Luffy.

They'd been friends and then close friends after their mutual past abuse, but got closer other than just that conversation starter. The first time he met Endeavor in person had been awkward. He got in a fight with Todoroki and it was an uncomfortable picture for Luffy.

His friend told him at a later time that his dad was mad that Luffy looked stronger. More fit with powerful wings. But Todoroki was very skilled with his ice power, so Luffy never understood anyone comparing him to an emitter. Not when his obvious quirk was mutation. And he'd never met any other user with wings like his or Hawks'.

That guy from the video game, whose quirk Luffy adopted, never voiced a word of similarities. That game had been a flop, so five years later, it wasn't relevant at all and nobody would discover it when it's been that long and the game was that forgettable.

Not for Luffy. It was silly, but he had the game propped up on his dresser like a photo. He was thankful Hawks bought that one so he could have his wings. He had never been injured after he was eleven and came across someone with a regenerative ability. He hadn't even noticed it before he broke an ankle and had it immediately right itself.

When they got back home, Luffy took his jacket off and hung it up in the closet before going to take a shower, putting the plastic fittings over his wings. It was like those you put clothes in the laundromat in. they covered the wings completely and easily. It took maybe a minute to put them both on, and a minute to get them both off and folded up and put back into the cupboard.

"Hey, what do you want for dinner?" Luffy asked while reading a book on the beanbag chair in the corner of the living room by the window. After Hawks noticed Luffy sat on the floor right there a lot, he'd bought him a little seat to be there that was comfortable.

"Hmmm, the tomato pasta dish with the sun dried tomatoes," Hawks replied, pausing his show. Nobody in the public knew he binged Netflix for at least two hours on his days off. He really did take Sundays to relax. Luffy asked if they had the ingredients. "Yup. I bought them."

Luffy nodded, saying he'd get on it soon. "Don't rush, it's only 5:30," Hawks said, playing his show again. Luffy went back to his book before he wanted to try out his new quirk. He closed his eyes and pulled out the newest drawer of the filing cabinet. Suddenly he could hear everything again, even some people talking. It was a jumbled mess of different sounds before it got under control.

It was like there were different classes of sounds he could focus on. The talking was the most messy, but he could separate it from the sound of cars driving or honking. He could hear the wind. And he could hear Hawks' breathing. He took a deep breath through his nose and smelled the house, the laundry detergent on his shirt, the trashcan that wasn't very full. He was able to turn off the sense of smell.

The hearing dulled and went back to normal, only hearing Hawks' TV show. He was looking over the back of the couch. "New quirk?" Luffy nodded. "Useful at all?" Luffy said it could be some day, maybe for being stealthy.

He went back to his book, reading by the window with the slowly reddening sky. He got up at 6:00, not able to wait to cook any longer, and got to work on dinner, having earbuds in while he did it. It was peaceful, cooking while listening to music. When dinner was ready, Luffy served himself and then sat on the reclining chair.

"So, when were you planning on registering for high school? You have to do it soon," Hawks said while they ate with a trashy reality TV show playing in the background. Luffy said they were officially getting the forms from the school the next day. "You know where you're going to register for?"

He already knew the answer, there was no real point in asking. But Luffy no longer ignored questions. Even if he didn't want to answer them, he said so. He still scowled sometimes, he couldn't help it. Mostly when Hawks teased him about something. "UA first, Shiketsu and then Ketsubetsu. Going to Shiketsu would require a long flight, but I can fly to places alone now." Then he smirked. "And you wouldn't be there to slow me down."

"What a brat," Hawks sighed and chuckled. "I'm sure you'd easily get into UA You have straight A's in every subject and no doubt would ace the entrance exam. And you're strong enough to do great at the practical exam that every hero school has." Luffy nodded, knowing those things were true. He was still nervous.

Todoroki was applying for those schools as well. He said Endeavor would be angry if he didn't make it at UA He would, Luffy had no doubt. Even if he only used his ice, he was powerful. Luffy had never once used his quirk, and he still didn't know what Luffy's actual quirk was. And now he had three he had at all times. The Argentavis and now the regeneration.

Hopefully Todoroki didn't notice that he suddenly could heal from any wounds. Hopefully, but the teen was smart. "Don't be so worried, Luffy. Even if you don't make it to U.A., Shiketsu is a very prestigious school as well."

Luffy nodded, knowing that was also the truth, but he had another reason he wanted to go to UA The campus was massive, lots of room to fly around. After dinner, Luffy did the dishes and then took a shower before going to bed.

He woke up in the morning to his alarm, finding a note on the door saying Hawks had to go to work early for a bank robbery that his sidekicks couldn't handle. He remembered when he was nine, he started to get worried about Hawks dying on the job until he finally convinced Luffy he wouldn't die easily.

That was the period of him being clingy, so happy but also so worried he'd be dumped while he was so happy, having friends and doing well in school. But that never happened and he trusted Hawks wasn't the kind of guy to kick Luffy out.

He got dressed, able to put his shirt and jacket over his wings and clip them on his own, only it took a bit longer. Then he put his sling backpack on, clipping it across his chest before he jumped out of the window, closing it behind him while latching onto the building with the hooks on his wings that Hawks didn't have before jumping back off and flying his way to school quickly.

If the teen went as fast as he could, it took less than ten minutes to make a 45 minute train ride. Distance didn't matter to Luffy. And now that he was able to regenerate, his wings couldn't be harmed. He was so glad they would heal no matter what. He landed in front of the gates and went to class. They all got their application papers after lunch that day, and filled them out.

Only two of their class were trying UA as number one. Everyone knew why Luffy wanted a license, but Todoroki never really went into detail about why he wanted to be a hero. It wasn't because of Endeavor, he hated him with a passion. Luffy never pressed even if he was his closest friend.

They chose the same schools to pick. After class, Luffy went home and then received a text from his friend saying the teachers were going to recommend both of them. Luffy wanted to try the entrance exam, but now he had a failsafe. And the teachers thought he was talented enough to get in on recommendations.

He was smiling up until Hawks came home after he finished that week's homework and went on a flight to the nearest park and laid down on the grass, his wings spread out so they didn't press too hard against the ground.

When he got back home, and Hawks was there, he told him the great news, and said that he still wanted to try the entrance exam. Hawks grinned, saying that was awesome. "I wish I could watch the entrance exam. I'm sure you'll be great. I never got to go to school, so I'm so happy you can."

Luffy knew briefly about Hawks' past. A sad and lonely one that somehow turned him into a laid back guy like he was. More mature now than he had been five years ago, but still mostly the same. Luffy was glad, he didn't want Hawks to change.

After dinner, Luffy focused in his room on the super senses. He'd get control over it soon enough, using it when it was convenient for him. He went to bed early that night, happy and relaxed even though he fell asleep on top of the blankets.

-x-

"How do you think you did on the test?"

"It was pretty easy," Todoroki replied, Luffy nodding in agreement. They were surrounded by other middle schoolers wanting to apply. Todoroki didn't have to come, he could have taken the exam before now, but he wanted to be there as support, though he didn't say that. Luffy was thankful for it, as he was nervous. He felt he'd aced the test 100%, finishing before everyone else and then going over each answer many times, how he usually did on tests.

Now he was heading into the auditorium to listen to directions about the practical exam. He was sitting in the back so his wings didn't block anybody's view. The chairs were nice for him, big and able to have his wings pressed against it without being irritating. Present Mic, a loud hero who was also one of the teachers here, told them about the bots and points given for each one.

There would be no fighting anybody else here. Oh well, it wasn't that big of a deal. He was in the same group as some interesting people. There was one kid who looked terrified. Luffy wondered how he'd do if he was so scared. He went to the gate and was the first to get inside as he flew using All Might's speed. He might piss some people off by taking all of the bots, but he was there to shine.

He wanted to make Hawks proud, even if he wasn't his dad or anything. And plus, he'd think it was funny if Luffy took out most of the bots. He arrived at the first three and dive bombed them by punching a fist into them before flipping and kicking one so hard to dent. All three blew up and by then, Luffy was at the next cluster, taking those out as well before going to the next, and the next.

For the others, he left many untouched, but took out the majority. By the time the other students had made it to the ones Luffy had already defeated, he was far away, deeper into the setting. After he offed 76, he felt that was enough, and went to the rooftops to watch how everyone else was doing.

There was one guy that was very fast with engines on his legs, though not as fast as Luffy could run, and another with a laser coming from his stomach. He looked like an... interesting guy. He went looking for the scared kid, and saw he hadn't really gone anywhere and was still at the first street.

Luffy felt sorry for him, since he must be so embarrassed. But not too bad. He had come here and wasn't able to do anything so far. Luffy perched on the roof, sitting with his legs over the edge. Luffy then was a bit startled when one of the huge zero point bots appeared, breaking the ground and buildings. Would this setting be able to be repaired? Everything did a lot of damage. Luffy not too much since his attacks were so focused, but many had more destructive quirks.

Luffy hadn't noticed the trapped girl until the scared guy suddenly leapt into the air and punched the bot away, leaving the girl. She could have died! But he could easily tell the guy's arms and legs were broken, and flew over to pick him up and set him down before helping the trapped girl out by holding the stone up with one hand and helping pull her out with the other.

The broken kid was crying, begging to get at least one point. Luffy looked at with pity and confusion as to why he was there if he couldn't control his quirk. He was broken from it! Then, the exam was over, and ten minutes passed.

An old woman in a nurse's costume came over, and naval laser dude explained that she was what let UA be so crazy. She healed anybody with a kiss and handed out gummies to everyone and healed those who were more severely injured. Luffy assumed the gummies were some sort of vitamin or something to make them less fatigued, but he wasn't sure.

Luffy was one of the only ones with no bruises or cuts due to his regenerative ability. Hawks would be proud of him for how many bots he took out and saving two other students. Well, the broken kid - who was now not broken - and done the saving first. He just saved him afterward and continued his goal while he was out of commission.

"Thank you," the green haired teen said. Luffy nodded, and helped him up before he flew off back to base after Recovery Girl told him that was fine, leaving everyone else behind. He didn't go at full speed like he had been, but the normal speed he did when flying with Hawks.


	6. Before The Beginning

**I missed an update! No, I'm 30 minutes late! Well, it's kind of fitting it's my least popular AND an accidentally-tiny-short chapter. Idk what happened in editing, but anyways here's the chapter and I'm both glad and sad nobody noticed I missed the update lol. Enjoy, see you in a few hours for my other story.**

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"I got 76 bots and saved two other students," Luffy said at dinner, eating teriyaki stir fry and steamed rice with the sauce Luffy had concocted on accident that tasted really good. Hawks almost spit his food out, for once losing his composure before swallowing and then laughing.

"I don't know why I'm surprised. Did you leave any for everybody else?" he asked in amusement. Luffy said he left many, but not at the beginning. "You probably failed a lot of kids by stealing all of the bots at the beginning," he pointed out.

Luffy bristled and said he wanted to shine, so he did. "Well, I think it's awesome either way. Proud of you, I think you'll make a great sidekick, or hero, who knows?" Luffy said he still wanted to be a sidekick.

"You rubbed off on me, I don't want to have a huge workload on myself. I want to be able to relax more than heroes," he said with a smirk. Hawks smiled and called him cheeky. "I'm accepted either way, but it was fun. I texted Todoroki and he wasn't surprised at all. I almost sensed a laugh in his text, but it's hard to tell."

Then he asked what Hawks thought of the student who couldn't control his quirk at all. "Shouldn't people be able to at least control it a bit, since you get your quirk at four?" he wondered.

Hawks replied, "Even generations later, we are still not sure a lot about the science of quirks. There had been no reported case of 0a quirk developing so late, but it could be possible. In this world it seems anything is possible. Like your totally overpowered quirk. Never heard of anyone having one like yours."

Luffy nodded and said that maybe he could learn his quirk if he was accepted into UA Though he didn't know how that was possible since the bot he'd punched was worth zero points.

"Since you've already finished all your homework, want to go on patrol with me tomorrow?" Hawks asked. Luffy nodded, glad to go on patrols and get some experience even if they didn't call it a patrol to anybody else. They just said Luffy was going on a walk with him.

It was hard for him to fall asleep, wondering what would happen when he was accepted. There was no way he wouldn't be based on how many bots he'd gotten, how neatly he'd gotten rid of them. Plus, he helped two people he was supposed to be against.

The next day, he was swarmed by students wondering how the entrance exam went. Luffy told them detailed accounts, and he was jokingly called an asshole about taking more of the easy access bots. Luffy just laughed it off, saying he wanted to prove he was strong. "I think I got a good grade on the test, so all that matters is the practical exam. I'll tell everyone once I get the reply."

"If you got accepted," Jonsi said, one of his other friends, though not as close as Todoroki. Luffy nodded, saying he wouldn't share if it was a rejection. He was impatient with school, and when he finally flew home, he went down the elevator and found Hawks, seeming to be waiting for him, as they left immediately.

They were doing a petrol from above, and Hawks asked Luffy to use that super senses to find any trouble. Luffy was surprised, but nodded and pulled that quirk out of the drawer and listened for the sound of breaking glass, grunts, screams, swearing. He heard the sound of a speeding car and shouts of profanities of it.

"I think I hear a speeding car with the people inside swearing." Hawks said they could go check it out, and followed where Luffy heard the sound coming from. They saw the speeding car, and Hawks asked if Luffy wanted to take care of it, making sure he didn't hurt anybody. He was supervised by a hero, so could use his quirk in a non-dangerous way and not get in trouble.

He sped up to the car and then crushed his hands into the top of it, halting it by picking it up. Hawks opened the doors and took all the criminals out, as they had ski masks on and a ton of bags of money in the trunk. Luffy kept the car in the air, and Hawks took them out and zip tied their hands together. Luffy put the car on the side of the road to let traffic resume. The criminals were put to the side as well.

They waited for the cops to come and the four of them were arrested, the money confiscated and the car towed away. It had two holes in the top from where Luffy had crushed his and inside to lift it up. His regenerative powers healed instantly if he was hurt by All Might's power, which wasn't often but did happen.

Hawks clapped him on the shoulder with a grin. "Nice. Wanna do it again?" Luffy nodded, and the two of them flew back up, circling while Luffy listened for anything. He heard a gunshot from a distance away. He alerted Hawks that there was a gunshot and he followed Luffy as fast as he could as the teen hurried to the source.

He couldn't do anything to the criminal, but Hawks could, and he flew up behind him and easily chopped his neck, confiscating the gun and dragging the guy from the collar of his shirt, calling the police once again to take him. It was obvious when someone was a criminal and when one was a villain.

They ran into criminals much more than villains. When it got to be evening, they headed back home, having caught 12 guys in three situations. Hawks said his new quirk was really useful. Luffy nodded, agreeing with that statement. The sense of sound was the most helpful of them. He didn't use the sense of smell since everywhere stunk and it wouldn't help him in finding bad guys.

They ordered pizza that night, something Luffy rarely allowed. He was the one wearing the pants in the house regarding food and diet. Hawks always found it funny, but was fine with it since Luffy made good food.

-x-

"It came!" Luffy said after going downstairs to get the mail in the mail slow that had a key so no one could think of stealing any of it. It was Hawk's day off, and Luffy held the letter up, though it was heavy and clunky, clearly not just a paper letter. He sat at the coffee table and opened it, a hologram projector coming out and lighting up as soon as it was out of the envelope.

Luffy was nervous but excited, so his wings moved around a bit, something akin to tapping your foot or wringing your hands. All Might popped up, and explained about the point system. Luffy and Hawks both waited impatiently for him to get to the scoreboard, and saw Luffy's name was at the top, with 150 villain points and 40 hero points.

"You've scored the highest, though no one is surprised based on the fact you were recommended. A great show of your strength and care! Welcome to U.A.!" All Might said simply, and told him he'd see him in a couple months. The hologram shut off and both of them started laughing.

The next highest person had 77 villain points and zero hero points. So Luffy finished with nearly 200. Hawks congratulated him, saying it was awesome. "Though I have to take some credit for that skill," he said haughtily.

"Whatever makes you sleep at night," Luffy joked. Hawks chuckled.

"Should I get you a present?" he mused. Luffy said it wasn't necessary, but Hawks made a "hmmm" meaning he would definitely get Luffy some sort of present. And he did the next day. A high end food processor Luffy's wanted forever. He was very happy with it, now able to make more deserts, which was what he was attempting now. In small quantities so they could taste and not binge on them.

When Luffy decided they'd had their servings, he brought the leftovers down and put in little foiled pieces for the workers and sidekicks to have a treat at work. They all liked when Luffy made food for them. There were a lot of times he brought down all sorts of muffins. Hawks' workers liked Luffy, and that was a relief for both of them. And not just because of his cooking and baking skills.

He was the messenger on days he was bored and had nothing to do, bringing mail to others inside the building. He liked being helpful when he wanted to. He was never forced to, though.

Todorki had to take his own exam with a handful of other recommended students. Sounded boring to Luffy.

The months passed quickly, and Hawks had been surprised by the costume Luffy designed to be made from the school for free. Not that money would matter in the long run. It was light, not like Hawks' outfit. "I want as little resistance as possible," Luffy said when Hawks asked why he got a body suit. It was black, matching his hair and complementing the deep blue of his wings.

He had eye shields similar to Hawks, but were a tint of very light blue with darker blue headphones that matched the color of his wings. The boots were black as well, and had an extendable hook on the toes in case he was going to hang off anything with the mostly unused hooks on his wings.

He would kick them out so they weren't there all the time. His hands were covered in tight gloves. Overall, a very different image from Hawks. Which was nice, he wasn't a copy of the man, he just had wings as well.

"Won't you be cold?" Hawks asked curiously. Luffy said he'd designed a jacket as well that he'd wear in the winter or if he was somewhere cold. It was black as well with blue patterns on it. It wasn't open at the back, but had a square of empty space that is wings fitted into perfectly, not leaving much of him exposed.

After the graduation ceremony for junior high, with Hawks actually being there, perched on the roof behind the school and watching with a grin, the pro-hero started teaching Luffy combat while in the air instead of just dive bombing things and punching them. He never went hard against Hawks, they were only learning the moves, knowing how strong Luffy could be if he mastered these skills.

It left him tired and sleepy, and they did that every night over summer. He and Todoroki practiced against one another in the huge backyard of his estate when Endeavor wasn't there. And it was easy since, if he showed up, Luffy could just fly away without a trace. He kicked the ice and broke it apart, but each time that happened, Todoroki's ice grew harder and more durable until it was like a crystal.

Breakable if hit very hard, but not easy to shatter. Over the summer, they practiced almost daily, and then he and Hawks continued during the night, making Luffy more muscular, but still shorter than Todoroki. They thought he didn't grow at a normal pace because of how little he ate as a child.

He assumed he wasn't treated well as a little kid based on what his family had done to him. So it made sense that he was short. But size didn't matter, strength did. So, when he went to his first day of school, in his own customized uniform with an open back, he was confident he could handle anything thrown his way.


	7. The Calm Before the Storm

#### someone: Aww, thank you! I'm glad you enjoy my stories. <3

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**Finally we start the school year! Luffy is definitely overpowered in this fic, after all he can use all quirks if he wants. The next chapter shows the extreme downside to that, so look forward to that! Enjoy~**

**Edit: some of the names of UA students get misspelled, missing a letter, and it's hard for me to catch them sometimes. So be prepared for some Todorkis and Midoryas. lol**

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Luffy knew that UA was crazy, but felt he would do well both in the education aspect and the hero aspect. He knew a lot about being a hero from working with Hawks for 7 years, now 15 years old. He also knew Todoroki knew a lot as well, even if he didn't want to spend time with Endeavor, he still was forced to learn about being a hero.

At the time, it was not desired, but in the long run it would help. The halls of the school and doors were tall and easy for him to walk through. He and his close friend were in the same class, and both sat in the back. Luffy for his wings being big and Todoroki for sitting next to a familiar face.

They'd gone to the same school since third grade, and wouldn't be stopping now. The class looked at Luffy in interest. He was the one to by far get the highest score in the practical exam. Plus, his wings were pretty flashy and people stared a lot. Luffy didn't care about the staring, totally used to it by now. It was nothing new.

They had both gotten there a bit early, so students were still walking in. Then, the kid who'd broken his limbs and the girl that had been trapped under rubble went straight to him, sitting down in front and next to Luffy.

"I wanted to say thank you again, for helping us. You could have gotten more bots, but you saved us instead." Luffy waved it off, saying he'd gotten more than enough bots. A kid was glaring at him but then looked away. "Your score was almost 200. That's really amazing! My name is Midoriya Izuku."

Hawks had given Luffy his last name to use, so he was Tamaki Luffy. He gave his first name, since most didn't know Hawks' actual name. The girl introduced herself as Uraraka Ochaco. Then another guy came up, an intense looking guy that Luffy recognized with the engine legs. He spoke to Midoriya, apologizing for seeing him as useless in the beginning.

Luffy almost laughed but managed not to. Iida Tenya was his name, and he was clearly a blunt guy. Entertaining but blunt. Everyone was introducing themselves to one another, and so many people asked Luffy about being with Hawks. He wasn't surprised, since Luffy lived with the number 3 top hero.

"He took me in when I was 8, and I've stayed with him ever since. He's how he seems. Laid back and good with light sarcasm. Sometimes I go with him on patrols that are disguised as walks. I like living with him, he's a good guy," Luffy said simply, not going into any details besides what other people know already about him.

"Did he take you in because you had wings?" Hagakure asked. Luffy shook his head, but said nothing else. Then the teacher came in, in a sleeping bag for some reason, but he could tell he was exhausted. Eraser Head. Luffy knew almost all the pro-heroes names after Hawks told him knowing everybody was helpful for getting along with them quickly.

He seemed pretty grumpy, but Luffy wasn't bothered. Neither was Todoroki, both of them well versed in being grumpy kids. It was a brief introduction and then they were told to put their gym clothes on. They went to the changing rooms, divided by gender. Luffy went behind something so nobody saw his scars on the first day.

Todoroki helped him clip the shirt scruff behind him so it was stable but with the open back for his wings. He was glad the infrastructure here was so accommodating that his wings weren't affected at all. They went out to the baseball field, wondering what would happen when they got a very depressing synopsis of Aizawa's view of being a hero. It was nothing like Hawks, and he definitely knew which version he liked better.

He also said UA was hard and they could teach however the hell they wanted and not get in any backlash or trouble for it. Then he finally explained why they were out there, still making it sound horrible and boring. They were told it was stupid that schools didn't let the students use quirks during their physical fitness tests, so this time they were allowed to.

For the previous times, Luffy dimmed his strength considerably to make it seem fair for the others. He threw halfheartedly. But he was actually excited to use his full power to throw this time and do other things.

Luffy had asked everyone to call him Luffy, so Aizawa said, "Luffy, you finished first in the practical exam, right? In junior high, how far was your soft ball throw?"

"709.6 meters," Luffy replied honestly, earning some mumbles. Todoroki was not surprised and would not be surprised with how much stronger he'd be throwing. He knew the extent of Luffy's strength, and never looked down or up to him, thankfully. They hid that part from Endeavor.

"Then try doing it with your quirk." Luffy nodded and took the ball. He wasted no time to stretch and take a deep breath before he chucked the ball so hard that it disappeared from sight almost immediately, and the device kept increasing until it got to 3,008 meters.

"WHAT?!" much of the class shouted. Luffy gave an awkward smile and said he'd always dimmed his throw at junior high. The others started to get excited and say it looked fun before Aizawa came to dump cold water on their positive attitude. Luffy really didn't like his way of thinking and hoped it didn't rub off on him.

Apparently, you couldn't have any fun while being a hero. Bullshit. After he was done saying "no fun, only hard work" he told them the person with the lowest score would be deemed to have no potential and would be expelled. Luffy knew that was bs, he couldn't expel them on the first day for not being strong enough. But he said nothing.

Uraraka protested, and again Aizawa told them UA would be hell with hardship after hardship. Luffy was'nt worried or deterred, he just didn't want to be in a classroom with a bunch of depressed kids. He was finally happy more than he was grumpy, he didn't want to be influenced to go backwards.

After he was done demotivating everyone in a happy way, it started. First was the 50 meter dash. Luffy went next to Midoriya, and sadly, the difference couldn't be any clearer. He cleared the dash in 1.3 seconds from using the super strength one one flap of his wings.

The next fastest was Iida, with 3.04 seconds. He headed to Luffy and said he was impressed by his speed. Luffy replied his wings were very powerful. Iida replied, "I know, that's how you got most of the bots quickly." Luffy made a small grimace, feeling awkward again. "I'm not upset or anything, I passed as well and that's all that matters. I was impressed, though. But then I heard that you learned from the best, or at least were influenced by his abilities. My family is full of heroes, too!"

Luffy liked Iida, he seemed like a positive guy. Luffy waited for Todoroki and then he went to talk to the other guys, Todoroki coming along but saying nothing. They all had really diverse quirks. He just added a little under 20 to his filing cabinet, putting them in the "do not use" drawer.

Next was the hand grip. Luffy squeezed so hard he crumpled and ruined it. "Luffy, don't break the equipment," Aizawa scolded in a lazy voice. Luffy replied that he was supposed to use his quirk to the fullest extent. Aizawa had no argument, but told him not to try another one. Many there were very strong, but Luffy was the only one to break it.

He put it down to toss later as it was unusable anymore. Kirishima, also an intense guy, came over and said his strength was crazy, asking how he didn't break everything he touched. "I have complete control over it. What's the point of doing everything super fast? That'd be annoying."

Kirishima asked what his quirk was. "Well, Hawks named it 'Argentivias', the strongest bird to ever live. It's extinct, of course, and it was massive. I also read that they were fast healers, but it's disputed. Makes sense to me since I heal really fast.

"I'm not sure why I have a mix like this, but it's helpful," Luffy explained, some others listening. He was asked what he meant about healing. He wasn't sure whether to show it, not wanting to be too overpowered. "Eh, I don't want everyone to think too highly of me," he said awkwardly.

Todoroki was different since he was raised in a hero family, he didn't think Luffy was some god. "Pleeaasseeee," Ashido begged. Luffy caved and nodded, using a rock on the crouch and slicing open his leg really badly. They gasped before the wound closed neatly, only leaving some blood.

"Wow!" Kaminari exclaimed. Luffy asked them not to spread it around the school. He didn't want to be resented for his strength. "Yeah, I can see that," the lightning boy said, and everyone else who heard nodded their heads. Iida was over and asked him if that was how he punched the bots without getting hurt.

Luffy nodded. "The super strength still hurts my skin when I punch something hard, but it heals quickly. I think it's a good trade off. I do wish I had long distance attacks, but you can't have everything."

Many of the students there had long distance attacks, which was pretty cool though he wasn't jealous. He had plenty of long distance quirks in his arsonary but never used them. He'd decided with finality that these two, plus the regenerative ability, were good enough and his permanent quirks.

Next was the standing long jump. Some weren't using their bodies at all but their quirks. Luffy didn't want to use his wings since that wouldn't be jumping at all, so he got a running start and kicked off of the ground, arcing over the sand and landing on the other side neatly, using his wings to soften the landing by flapping softly.

The one thing he sucked at was repeated side steps. Luffy sucked, but laughed it off. Todoroki did well by using his ice on either side, and Mineta did as well. His quirk seemed kind of useless. The other tests were just physical ones that were easy. The only memorable things that happened after that were Uraraka's infinity throw and Midoriya breaking his finger.

But it made Luffy suspicious almost immediately. His throw looked exactly like Luffy's. Was he using All Might's power as well? He could be a beginner, just getting it. Unlike Luffy immediately being able to handle it, his body couldn't.

Luffy turned around, feeling someone watching and saw All Might peeking behind the corner of the building. Luffy raised an eyebrow at it but then turned around. But then Bakugo tried to attack Midoriya, claiming all of Luffy's attention again. Aizawa restrained him, and that was the end of the squabble. Bakugo had a different kind of hate in his eyes. Not like Luffy knew he had been.

He had a feeling he wouldn't be friends with Bakugo. He glared at Luffy a lot. Maybe because he got second place in the practical exam, who knows? Or he just didn't like birds or something. Then Aizawa showed the results of the whole activity and Luffy was behind Yaoyorozu and Todoroki. Not first place, and he was glad of that.

"By the way, I was lying about the expulsion." Luffy was not surprised. And neither were a few others, including Todoroki. They weren't stupid, academic wise and common sense wise. Then he deemed class over and to get their curriculum in the classroom and look it over.

The rest of the day was like a normal school day. Luffy packed his own lunch, and Kirishima saw how fancy it was, and asked who made that. "I did. I like to cook," he said simply. "Hawks has a nice kitchen and I kinda banned him from cooking," he laughed.

The others asked why. "I'm kind of compulsive about making the food since in the beginning we mostly had take out. I want him to be healthy so he can be in perfect shape for being a hero, so I cook everything."

"Is he like, your dad or something?" Sero asked. Luffy shook his head, saying they liked to think of being close friends. Luffy pointed out that he was only 14 years older than him, so having him as a dad would be kinda weird. They were happy with calling each other friends even though it's closer than that.

The others did agree that having a person that young to you would be weird calling a dad. "But man, your food looked delicious," Kaminari said.

"Maybe I'll cook for everyone some time. I'm practicing deserts. So far the hardest to make is chocolate lava cake. Makes a damn mess," he grumbled, making a few laughs. Midoriya, he noticed, looked at him a lot, sometimes sadly other times in awe. He honestly could see why. Luffy's "quirk" (not quirks) was advanced and he had control over it. The other's quirk destroyed his own body. Luffy pitied him.

After school was out, Luffy said he'd see everyone tomorrow and flew off at his fastest speed. It took fifteen minutes to get back home when it would have taken an hour in a car. When he got back, he immediately worked on his homework, getting it done easily, checking over everything again like always.

Then, he went to see what ingredients they had to make some desert. He found cake mix, chocolate and vanilla. That would work. When Hawks got back, it was to Luffy decorating his cake with a determined look on. "What'cha doin?" he asked, since it was weird to see him making a cake for no occasion.

"I told my classmates I was working on deserts. I think this cake is good enough to try," Luffy responded. Then he told Hawks about his day, the normal parts and the crazy first period where the teacher lied to the class. Hawks was glad he'd made friends already. "I might have done too well. My ball throw was over 3,000 meters," he admitted.

Hawks said, "Don't dull yourself for others. Always do your best." Luffy said he knew that, he just didn't want everyone to think too highly of him. "I can see that. Well, now you can't lower your strength cause everyone has seen a touch of it. Faking being weaker might actually put more people off.

"But it was a good lie, telling them that Argentavis was a fast healer. Smart on the spot." Luffy replied that he was always smart. "Except when it comes to plumbing, that is." Luffy scowled, not wanting to remember when there was a leak in his bathroom sink so he attempted to fix it himself, flooding the bathroom.

"I was ten, okay?" he said defensively. Hawks just chuckled. "How was work?"

Hawks replied, "Kind of weird, to be honest. I had some villain come right up to me and ask to be arrested. I put a zip tie on his wrists, thinking he was faking or something, but he wasn't. He obediently got into the cop car and went away. I've never had that happen before." Luffy agreed that that was pretty weird.

After Luffy was done decorating the cake with little flowers, he put it in the fridge to bring to school tomorrow in a sturdy cake box he'd gotten for Christmas when Hawks had no idea what to get. He'd used it maybe twice, but it should be fine.

He made dinner and then put the leftovers in the fridge to bring to school tomorrow for lunch. He hoped everybody liked the cake. It was hard to make, honestly. He had three cake layers, two vanilla and one chocolate. He filled the chocolate cake area with frosting and then the vanilla with vanilla. A safe one, except that he'd layered them too fancy. It worked in the end, but probably only because he was lucky.

The next day, he said goodbye to Hawks and then put his backpack on and carried the cake box in his hands as he flew to school easily. When he landed, he went straight to homeroom, putting the cake to the side where he sat by the window. Todoroki asked why he had a cake, even though he was at the table with them.

Luffy said, "I wanted people to try it out. Hawks always compliments my food but he just likes food in general." Others came over and asked about the cake, excitedly. "I'll cut some pieces at lunch," he said and the others nodded.

The day was normal like the last, besides the fact that Aizawa didn't say anything depressing to them. Hero basic training had been boring as hell the day before while All Might introduced himself and the course. He… he clearly was teaching for the first time. He wasn't very organized and made a lot of side comments.

But everyone was too amazed by his presence to notice. Besides Todoroki, who looked out the window almost the whole time.

At lunch, Luffy gave tiny pieces to everyone who'd been at the table the day before so they didn't get sick if they actually did something in hero basics training. They all loved it, and Luffy smiled, glad that it didn't totally suck. There was a small amount left that Luffy would take home. Then they went to All Might's class, Luffy hoping things would be interesting today.

They were doing combat training. He'd need to pull punches. Unless it was against Todoroki or Bakugo, who he'd feel would be completely insulted if Luffy didn't go all out. Then, their costumes came into the picture! Out of the wall. Everyone was so excited, including Luffy. They went back to the changing rooms, and much of the class had trouble putting their costumes on for the first time.

Luffy put his on, able to zip the back where the zipper went between the wings. There was a lock on it so it wouldn't unzip. The gloves and wings matched and he put on the blue tinted sunglasses. He thought he looked pretty cool. The bottom of his boots were steel enforced, a last minute design change.

Everybody looked so diverse that it was really cool. They were to gather at ground beta, and Luffy was impatient and just flew there. Some of them said that wasn't fair, but Luffy just waved to them before speeding up and landing easily in front of the gate and All Might.

"You have quite the diverse quirk, young Luffy," All Might said while they waited for the others. Luffy told the truth, just not the whole truth, and said the wings were a nightmare at first. He had trouble with them before Hawks took him in and helped him learn how to fly.

"The strength came after the wings, so it was even harder. Then, the regenerative power came last. All when I was young, but at different times. Before Hawks took me in, that is," Luffy replied. The students got there and they all went through a tunnel to get in that was also the exit.

All Might called them cool, and then told them to get ready. But Luffy had a question and raised his hands. "Are these costumes ensured? If something was broken, would it be replaced?"

"That is correct. Many times first time costumes break and then are improved," All Might replied. Good, he could break costumes and not worry about having to pay to replace it. He told them they'd be fighting two on two battles indoors, since most villain attacks happen indoors. Luffy had no idea who he'd fight with but did know their quirks well enough. God, he hoped he didn't team up with Bakugo, who seemed like he'd be a nightmare to work with.

The basis of the training was pretty simple. One team would be villains and the others heroes. The villains guarded a bomb in any of the many floors of the building. The heroes had to either trap both villains or retrieve the bomb. That would mean they won. It was also timed.

Luffy was fine to be in a group with Sero. He was a nice guy so far, and had an interesting quirk. Luffy was fine with either protecting the bomb or hunting the heroes. He thought that Sero would be best trying to capture the enemy while Luffy either assisted him or guarded the bomb. Whichever role he wanted.

He asked which role the guy wanted, and he said he was fine with guarding the bomb, able to tie anyone up who managed to go up. They were against Bakugo and Iida. Those two were arguing already as they entered the building. Luffy was sure that Bakugo would go for him, trying to get the guy who got twice as many points in the practical exam.

Bakugo entered the hall, demanding to know where Luffy was. He could tell Iida was going up the stairs, maybe he should have been the one to guard. But Sero's tape wouldn't work on Bakugo and he'd just set them on fire with an explosion. Luffy didn't know how good Bakugo's explosions were, but burns no longer harmed him. He'd dropped boiling hot water on his foot once while making tea. It had hurt but was gone in a few seconds.

He didn't wait to walk right up to him. Bakugo scowled at him like he was the most disgusting thing on the planet. Luffy walked forward and Bakugo let loose an explosion that could have killed Luffy if he wasn't able to regenerate, but once the dust cleared, Luffy's burns on his face disappeared and his suit was perfectly intact.

Bakugo, seemingly understanding Luffy's skin was safe, aimed for his wings. Which infuriated him. The feathers grew back after Luffy had Bakugo pinned to the ground on his stomach, holding his arms back. He tried to blow him up, but Luffy grabbed both gauntlets and shattered them easily. "You _don't_ attack my wings," he said in a low voice.

He chopped the back of Bakugo's neck hard enough for it to knock him out. Then he tied him in the string and wrapped it around a pole so he was stuck to the pole. Luffy hurried up the stairs to see Sero had captured Iida. "You get Bakugo? I heard some pretty loud explosions."

Luffy nodded, saying he tied him to the pole downstairs. Both villains were restrained and Sero and Luffy touched the bomb.

"Hero team wins!" they heard All Might's voice declare, echoing around the building. Luffy untied Iida and asked if he could carry Bakugo out. He was sure the guy would attack him if he woke up while doing so. Iida said he would never let him do that, but they came across him being unconscious, with his gauntlets in pieces.

Sero laughed, "Is that why you wanted to know if the outfits were insured? So you could wreck them?" Luffy nodded his head and said it was better safe than sorry. Iida untied Bakugo and put him over his shoulder and brought him back to the observation room with Sero and Luffy. Sero said, "No hard feelings, Iida?"

"Not at all. This is a training exercise. We need to go hard at each other. That's UA for you," he said strongly. The way he spoke was intense. It was entertaining to Luffy. Bakugo woke up in the observation room a couple minutes later while the other three were watching the other fights.

"Man, you barely had to do anything!" Kirishima said loudly. Luffy admitted it was kind of boring just to restrain him. "He would'a gotten you so badly burnt if you couldn't heal." Luffy agreed that it was reckless to do that, but was just glad he hadn't suffered burns or injured his wings. He was still angry that Bakugo would attack his wings. But it was a fight, no matter how underhanded they were.

And Luffy just walked up to him and slammed him down and broke his costume. That was pretty embarrassing. The other fights were more flashy than theirs. Since Luffy had just walked up to him and rendered him unconscious. The one that showed the most strength was Todoroki, freezing up the whole building and going straight to the bomb. It was over easily, with only him doing any real work.

It was unfair, but life wasn't fair, like Aizawa had said in his not motivational speech. The rest of the matches were pretty forgettable. When Todoroki came back, Bakugo was staring at him. Luffy gave a modest fist bump to Todoroki. Those in the room were impressed with his skill. Luffy knew he was strong and was happy other people were recognizing that. He knew they would, but still. He had largely been ignored in elementary school because Endeavor scared off any friends besides Luffy.

He was sure that the years in elementary school had been what made them stick together so long. After the matches were done, they all got a short lesson and then went to go change out of their costumes. Bakugo's was badly damaged and he'd need his gauntlets replaced. Well, that was what he got for attacking Luffy's wings.

Thank god he had somehow gotten the regenerative power. Hawks would probably be mad or at least irritated that someone specifically aimed for his wings. He changed and put his costume back in the case before flying back to the main building. It took everyone else much longer to get back.

He was waiting in the classroom where they were to all meet up to end the day. His cake was still there, and he was eating more of it. He must've looked so weird to the others, reading a book while eating a cake. "That looks really funny," Uraraka said. "Just waiting for class while eating cake."

Luffy smiled and said there was nothing else to do when he was waiting. Plus, he didn't want to have to fly carefully to not mess it up. His wings started to ache a bit, and he shuffled them around. Looked like the jolt of Bakugo's explosion had made it sore. Well, it was fine enough to fly, just would need stretching to feel better.

He resisted rubbing it, not wanting to show any sign that Bakugo had done damage. Todoroki quietly asked if he was okay. "Yeah. Just a little sore," he said in a mutter, no one else hearing. After All Might praised their performances that day, they were dismissed to go home.

The moment he was outside, he extended his wings stretching them a little before flying off to go home. The regenerative power affected injuries like being cut, or having a broken bone. It wasn't completely healing. Luffy could still get sick and have aches and pains. He felt a lot of people thought regenerative powers kept your body in perfect shape at all times.

That just wasn't true at all. He didn't know about other users, but he still had sore muscles or joints. Usually not too bad with his wings, but responding to the explosion had jolted it back further. Well, it would go away by tomorrow.

For once, he didn't do his homework first and went to take a nap, feeling like crap. When he woke up, it was Hawks shouting his name and shaking him awake.


	8. Out Of Control Situation

**And the suffering begins! I made up a bunch of quirk medical stuff and lore. Poor Luffy. Enjoy~**

* * *

He was laying in bed, his room a complete disaster, the walls scorched, the bed burnt, skin secreting acid that burned him only to heal over in an endless loop as the acid dripped down his arm. Luffy's left arm was invisible, the right side of his body was on fire, random objects were stuck in his shirt, having come out of his body. There was a residue of lightning in the room along the formerly nice and neat walls.

The window hadn't broken, but it was making a ruckus inside when Hawks got home, slamming the door open and not even knocking as he heard sounds that shouldn't be there. He looked at Luffy's mess of a body in horror as he shook him awake. Luffy's eyes were rolled back in his head.

Then another pair of red wings came out of his lower back, multiple quirks responding all at once. Hawks shook his awake roughly, slapping him hard across the cheek. That stirred him and he jerked awake. His body hurt. Things steadily got less and less blurry before he realized what was happening to him.

He curled up, trying to force the quirks away. They were his classmates' quirks, ones that he never intended on using. He felt like the most recent drawer in his filing cabinet had been thrown around and he couldn't control or get them back into the places.

Luffy had never seen Hawks looking so afraid and worried. Slowly, the powers stopped and all that was left was his wings. He was breathing deeply, eyes scrunched closed. Hawks rubbed his back, massaging where his wings were spasming. The pro-hero was silent for a minute before he asked, "Are you alright?"

The teen nodded, saying it didn't hurt anymore. He tried to get up but Hawks made him stay on the bed. He held up Luffy's arm, which had sweat the acid, leaving red marks though there was no visible injury anymore. Luffy felt horrible. Look at the mess of his room. "I'm sorry, everything got ruined." Hawks frowned and said he didn't care about the bedroom walls.

He put his head in his hands, sitting hunched over. "I don't know what happened. I just took a nap and woke up to you shaking me awake." Hawks asked if it had hurt, and Luffy shook his head. If he hadn't been woken up and didn't see the mess of his room, he might not have even noticed it happen.

Luffy had felt completely normal until he woke up and then everything hurt and was scary. He was glad his wings were still there. He looked at his hands, not looking like they were burning or covered in electricity at all.

So many people would want his quirk, the power to access all that he'd seen. Yet this was what was happening and he didn't know what the trigger was. Hawks got him a glass of water and sat on the bed next to him. "I don't know what happened," Luffy repeated quietly. Hawks was laid back and generally positive, but he wasn't an idiot or overly optimistic. So he didn't tell Luffy everything would be fine. Luffy would be mad if he did.

"We should keep you here and not go to school tomorrow," Hawks said slowly. "Not only could you hurt others but they'd also know your real quirk," he reasoned. Luffy knew that was the right thing to do, but missing any school at UA seemed like it'd doom you. Based on how Aizawa taught them. Always negative. He was sure being "sick" wouldn't give him any help other than not to miss anymore.

"I know that's the right thing to do, but Aizawa isn't going to just let me skip for being sick. He'll say to work through it and heroes don't have time to be sick," Luffy replied in a groan. He felt stable, if not sore in many places, and burning in his feet.

Hawks said, "We can tell them it's a quirk related illness, in which case there is no way you could go to school." That would work, there were quirk related illnesses. It was to be seen if this was one or just his body finally being unable to store too many quirks. He'd lost complete control, but it could have been much, much worse. This needed to be brought under control as soon as possible.

Luffy nodded and said they would do that. "Let me email him," Luffy said, but his hands were shaking a little bit and he couldn't type anything on his phone. Hawks took it from him gently and started to type out the email. He read it aloud so Luffy could confirm or want to change it.

"Dear Aizawa-sensei, I've come down with an unfamiliar quirk related illness and it is unsafe for me to come to school. Please email me any and all work I can complete at home," Hawks read and asked if that was okay. Luffy nodded and the hero pressed send. He looked around the room and then laughed.

The TV was completely fine while the rest of the walls were a mess. "Looks like even your quirks know you like to watch TV."

"That was a terrible joke," Luffy muttered, but not in a mean way. Hawks just chuckled, agreeing that it wasn't the best. "Is it safe for me to sleep?" he asked, feeling like he hadn't gotten any rest at all even though he'd napped for hours based on the sun's position. It was so lucky the window hadn't been broken.

Hawks didn't know, and said that he should sleep in the living room so Hawks could keep him under his watch, wake him if he started to go out of control again. Luffy said, "I don't think that will be the only and last time. Nobody is ever that lucky." He was angry, angry at his quirk for not obeying him, going out of control. Being too powerful.

How he wished he had only one. One quirk that was the only one he had, he could focus and be proud of that. Luffy was sure there was no way to delete the quirks he'd seen and accumulated. They were part of his memory. And even if he wanted to, you couldn't wipe out specific memories that you want to lose.

Was it even safe for him to fly? To leave the apartment? Would he cause a scene and get Hawks in trouble? "We'll hope for the best. The last resort would be a quirk rehab. Hopefully that doesn't happen," the pro-hero said honestly. Luffy grimaced at imagining going to one of those places.

If someone's quirk became uncontrollable, there were multiple practices to help fix that, including surgery, medication or rehabilitation. But that meant others would know what Luffy's quirk actually was. Not some prehistoric bird lie. He nodded, knowing that was the last resort. He had to get this under control, he didn't want to do that.

He didn't think it would be some horrible place, but he still didn't want to have to do rehab there. Luffy had no idea what kind of quirks would be there. And he didn't want to see any uncontrollable ones that might become uncontrollable with him. Like an incredibly contagious disease. He'd always hated his quirk.

"C'mon, I'm gonna make dinner. No, you don't cook. I'm doing it tonight. Come to the living room," Hawks said, helping him up. Luffy said he was really sore everywhere, and it burned to put weight on his leg. But he walked to the couch on his own, declining help from Hawks. It wasn't far and he could walk that short distance.

Sitting on the couch, he stewed in a negative pot of anger, frustration and just disappointment. He finally got to high school, so excited about it, only to be absent at the beginning of the first semester. And it wasn't like he could be tutored on hero training, that had to be in person. But the school would be unable to not accommodate a quirk related illness.

It didn't happen again that night besides his fingers disappearing for a moment. Hawks was the one to notice, and he started keeping a log on a piece of paper on what he was showing. They both slept in the living room that night. Luffy felt guilty for being a burden. He was unsafe for himself and possibly other people, he couldn't go anywhere.

In the morning, Hawks woke Luffy and told him he was going down but would come check on him every hour. Luffy nodded and thanked him, eating cereal for breakfast. Hawks did check on him every hour, just to open the front door as if he was alright. Luffy replied he was fine and Hawks would go back to work.

It wasn't too much of a hassle, luckily. Hawk's ability of flight was convenient for something like this. Luffy eventually left the window open so he could just check on him by flying up and not needing to go inside and use the elevator each time.

Before dinner, Luffy's quirk misbehaved again. His arm started to turn green and grow claws, the fingers receding. It was painful, bleeding badly before his regenerative power came, only making it worse as it deformed further. Luffy took the nearest pillow and bit down on it not to scream.

It was so painful, but eventually it went back to normal, Luffy having tears of pain in his eyes. The blood had gotten on the carpet. He stood and walked to the sink to wash off the blood and then try steam cleaning the carpet. Though the one they had was crappy and old. The blood stayed there and Luffy desperately tried to wipe it up, but it didn't.

Hawks landed in the window and saw Luffy trying to clean. "What happened?" he asked in a stern voice. Luffy told him honestly, and apologized for staining the carpet with blood. "Luffy, you were literally bleeding out, I don't give a damn about the carpet. Stop prioritizing things that can be fixed compared to your body and health."

Luffy looked down, but nodded. He still felt he wasn't worth anything sometimes, though those feelings were usually chased away quickly, mostly when Hawks scolds him for it. Scolds lightly would be a better way to say it. He never raised his voice in anger, which was nice. Hawks stayed for an hour, making sure Luffy was alright before heading back down.

He was on his beanbag chair when his phone buzzed. He opened the email and saw it was from Aizawa.

_I'm sorry to hear you have a quirk related illness. I will send you the rest of the classwork for this week. The school recommends suspending all quirk related training or school work until you are back to normal. Hope to see you back soon. - Aizawa_

Luffy laid down on the couch, holding his phone up with a heavy sigh. He hadn't missed school in years, always winning the perfect attendance award. Oh well, there was nothing he could do to change this. He rolled onto his stomach and muted the TV, falling asleep. He was tried a lot right now, maybe that was part of the illness or defect or whatever was going on with him.

Nothing happened and Hawks came to check on him an hour later, making sure everything was okay and seeing Luffy was sleeping. He moved his phone and put it on the coffee table since it was squishing against his cheek. He gave Luffy one last worried look before flying back to work.

When he woke up, it was to the smell of pizza. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, looking to see Hawks had a box of pizza at the bar counter. "I figured you deserved a cheat meal," Hawks said simply, and brought the box and two plates over. He felt Luffy's forehead and frowned. "How do you feel?"

"Really tired. Do I have a fever?" Luffy asked, not having gotten a fever in years. He was usually very healthy, even with the aches and pains that he had in various places sometimes. Hawks told him it was normal for a human to ache after flying long distances. He made sure Luffy knew he was still a human and not invincible, even if Luffy hadn't thought like that in a long time.

"I don't know, we'll see before you eat anything," he said, already changed out of his hero outfit. He came back with the thermometer, Luffy pulling out to see he had a very light temperature. "99.2," he said. "Not too bad, but a temperature regardless. We'll keep an eye on it." Then they both started eating. It was good, but Luffy started to feel wrong again, how he had with the lizard arm.

God, he hoped it wouldn't be anything painful or damaging. It wasn't, and he just started floating. Hawks was shocked at first before he scoffed. "Well, this isn't the _worst_ one you could have," he said, trying to lighten the situation. Luffy tried flapping wings to get back down and grabbed onto the couch to pull himself down, only the couch started floating. Hawks took him down and sat him on the not floating couch.

It ended and he was no longer weightless. That was Uraraka's power. He felt dirty for using it. He took the bottle of water and tried uncapping it, but it didn't. He froze and so did Hawks. "The super strength is gone," Luffy said flatly, though both of them knew that the moment the lid didn't unscrew on the first try.

He grabbed at his wings, so afraid he'd lose them. Hawks asked if there was anything off feeling about his wings. Luffy didn't want to jinx it, but he shook his head. They felt fine, if not a bit droopy. Though they always felt a bit heavier when he was tired or sick, so it wasn't something new or very alarming.

Hawks opened the water bottle and Luffy took a long swig before eating the pizza at a quicker pace so he wouldn't be interrupted again. "Aizawa replied. He's gonna email me all of the classwork for the rest of the week and told me the school doesn't want me doing any work involving my quirk for safety purposes." Hawks said that was the best idea. Luffy sadly complained that he wanted to fly.

"I know, but it's not safe for now. I honestly don't know what to do to fix this," he said. Luffy was sad but grateful he was truthful. It didn't make Luffy feel any better about the situation, but he would be more upset if Hawks gave him false hope.

Luffy said, "I'll probably need to go to a quirk hospital, huh?" in a flat voice, eyes droopy and shoulders slumped. His pizza was gone, no longer hungry. Hawks sighed and said it was likely. "Will they be able to help me?"

Hawks answered, "Hopefully. I would say it's probable. They do surgeries to inhibit certain aspects of quirks, not the whole thing. Or medication to dull the effects." Luffy didn't want surgery. He did fantasize about not having to deal with all of them crowding his mind. He asked what the surgeries were like, how they worked.

"From what I know, they put an inhibitor in the back of your neck to interfere with some nerves that carry the brain's message to the nerves that control the quirk. It varies in complexity from case to case," he explained. "It was a 98% success rate. There are very rarely deaths."

Luffy sighed, glad he wouldn't die or anything. He asked if it could ever damage the quirk itself. "Only if someone ripped it out or attempted to remove it themselves. It can be removed by surgery again." The teen was glad it wasn't something completely dangerous. But what would it be like? To have a more normal quirk? It sounded nice, but he didn't want to have to go to a rehab facility for this.

He said he wanted to go to bed, and that he'd leave the door open in case something went wrong. Hawks looked uneasy with this, but didn't make him sleep on the couch again. Luffy didn't know that some time during the night, Hawks had brought the beanbag chair to Luffy's door and slept propped up right outside the door.

The pro-hero woke up to Luffy screaming, spikes coming from his back from one of the mutant quirks he hadn't seen in many years and actually forgot he had. Normally, the skin would accommodate for the change, but he was out of whack, so it was agony and he was bleeding heavily. Hawks ran to him but then grabbed the phone and called 911.

"This is 911, state your emergency."

"I need an ambulance. My friend is having his quirk rebel against him. He can't control it," Hawks said hurriedly. The woman on the other line no doubt heard the screaming. "We're at Hawks' agency, we'll meet you outside." She said help would be there soon. Hawks put the phone in his pocket before touching Luffy on the shoulder gently.

The spikes were still there, but no longer growing. They hadn't hurt his wings, luckily, were just between them. "Luffy, we're going to the quirk hospital. I already called 911," Hawks said. Luffy didn't want to, but he needed to. He wanted any medication to stop this, it hurt and was scary.

Luffy nodded and carefully got out of bed, his back coated in blood even though it wasn't bleeding anymore. He winced with every step. Hawks decided to just carry him. "I'm going to fly us down, okay?" he asked, Luffy nodding.

He held Luffy with his chest to Hawks so that the spikes didn't stab the hero on accident. When they got down, landing easily with little impact, the ambulance was there. But it wasn't to the regular hospital, but the place you were taken if it was a quirk related injury, having quirk scientists and doctors specialized for this kind of thing.

Luffy was put into the ambulance, Hawks sitting inside with him. "It might go out of control again," Hawks warned the EMT at the scene. He nodded and injected Luffy with a small quirk suppressant. There was nothing that could completely erase quirks, but dull the effects for medical purposes, like having a surgery of some sort and the quirk would interfere.

The teen was still awake, just out of it from the drug. Hawks was in normal people clothes, no sunglasses and just wearing a tank top, pants and boots. Of course he'd still be recognizable due to his wings that were taking up a lot of the packed ambulance, Luffy's also taking up quite a lot of space. Though the behind was spacious inside. Some people had quirks that enlarged their bodies.

When they got to the quirk hospital, Luffy was wheeled inside and to a room. The place was nice, much nicer than a regular hospital. The walls were not white, but a warm feeling blue with wooden floors. Well, it was a rehab place and people would want comfort.

The spikes had slowly receded, very slowly due to the suppressant and now Luffy was in a room on a bed. His back was being wiped of the blood and Hawks was washing out the blood from the feathers.

"Hawks?" Luffy asked, finally awake enough to speak.

"Hey, Luffy. We're in the quirk hospital. Do you remember what happened?" the pro-hero asked, sitting by the bed and trying to hide his worried expression. He was usually good at concealing his emotions but he was very worried right now.

Luffy nodded, remembering spikes coming from his back. He started to apologize but he got a stern look and settled with a thank you. The doctor came in, smiling and asked how Luffy was feeling. "Still tired, but not in pain anymore." He was asked for details about his quirk, since he had wings but also had spikes in his back.

"It will be kept confidential and will not leave this hospital. But we need honesty so we can help you in the proper ways," she said, sitting down next to the bed on the other side that Hawks was. So Luffy sighed and explained his quirk. She was writing down notes, looking surprised but not too much. He explained that he was able to hold the wings out all the time, and the other two never went away. She then asked him to lay back down on his stomach. She pressed on his back at the top of his spine and asked if that hurt. He winced and nodded.

"Your quirk nerves are inflamed and swollen. Pressing against one another is causing them to sort of malfunction. That explains why your quirks are out of control. I'm going to do an x-ray and then come right back," she said, named Dr. Ito. He nodded and was taken to get x rayed on his stomach and rolled back.

He tried to sit up but she asked him to continue laying on his stomach. He was not comfortable in this position since his wings were furled and not in the space where they could rest out widely, like both his and Hawks' beds were. But he did what the doctor said. She knew everything, now he just wanted help with it.

She came back with the scans, and actually looked puzzled and a bit worried. "This is where your quirk nerves usually are, a small and thin cluster. But your quirk is much different, and you seem to be growing more than usual. Based on the fact that your quirk is not a copy, but one where you keep the potential to use them, more and more nerves are being formed. You have over 100 extra ones."

Luffy and Hawks were horrified, and Luffy tried to feel the area, while was indeed swollen and tender. "The best thing to do would be to remove some of them to lessen just how many there are."

Hawks asked how that would work, and what if they kept forming even after removing them. "Removing them would be time consuming. We'd need to do research on each nerve and connect it to each quirk. But there is one that is thicker and much stronger than the others. The one connected to your wings."

Luffy sighed, glad it seemed his wings were more protected. "After a nerve is removed, it will take a period of time to recover and recuperate. With how many quirk nerves you have, and how many you don't use, it would take at least three months to have you completely healed.

His eyes fell and he bit his bottom lip. Well, he would be a year late in high school. There was no way he could complete the year with three months of absences. Hawks frowned deeply as well. "I'll stay. School… can be delayed a year." He said nothing of the cost of the operation since he knew Hawks would pay however much is necessary.

The pro-hero sighed and put his hand on Luffy's hair. "It's the right choice," he said quietly. Luffy nodded, keeping in the tears. Luckily, he hadn't gotten attached to any of the other students or teachers. It wasn't so painful to end that year since he didn't get close to any of his classmates.

Luffy asked, "Will I be confined here?" Dr. Ito nodded, though she told him he could go on walks, just not to other places where someone could be harmed by any of his quirks going out of control. "Do you know how many will need to be removed?"

She shook her head, saying they needed more assessments by others as well. Luffy deflated completely. Three months or more of being in a hospital, constantly healing from surgeries. Well, he'd lived through worse conditions than this. He shouldn't be a baby and getting so upset. He'd still get food and shelter. He'd miss Hawks, though.

He wasn't going to stay with him there, but Luffy was sure he'd visit. The doctor was blunt and honest, though her voice was calm. "You will most likely be sleeping for much of the time here. During surgeries you will be sedated and then resting to heal up. We will give you daily quirk suppressors to keep any from acting up. They are safe for use and have no side effects. It's kind of a miracle drug, but most don't use it for any other reasons besides ones similar to yours."

Luffy would be sleeping for three months? Or longer? Well, at least time would go by more quickly that way. Hawks looked so depressed. After all, he hadn't lived alone in five years. Luffy tried to lighten the mood and said, "Well, you'll have to learn to cook for yourself again." It was weak, but he was trying to make Hawks not feel upset. At least it wasn't something Luffy was in control of.

Hawks pressed his lips together and nodded. Dr. Ito said that he'd be staying in a nice room for the long term patients. He and Hawks followed her out, Luffy feeling heavy as the drugs were still in effect. They went to a new hallway, and Luffy hadn't really been aware when they came in. They entered an empty room that had a nice big bed and overall looked nothing like a hospital room. But it wasn't _his_ room. Couldn't compare. He sat on the bed, glad it was big enough for his wings to be stretched out.

"You can bring things from home to make it easier to be in here. And clothes as well. I'll leave you two alone," Dr. Ito said kindly and shut the door.

Hawks sighed and said, "This is gonna suck. I'm sorry you have to do this." Luffy said that it might be nice in the long run, to not have so many quirks. But that he might have to keep coming if more and more grow. Neither of them had any idea this was even possible, but it seemed really dangerous to leave unchecked. "Still… I'm sorry your first year is gonna be messed up, Luffy."

He nodded, but said the bright side was that he hadn't gotten too attached to anyone. "I'll not be in the same year as Todoroki, but it's not like I can ask him to skip a year." Hawks nodded, and then said he didn't need to be strong all the time. Luffy brought his knees up to his chest and said he didn't want to cry or be upset. "There's no point in being devastated about it, it's for my own health. I can't complain about it," he said quietly, both of them pretending he wasn't crying.

Luffy was going to feel so alone. It will be hard to adjust to this after being in a good home for over half a decade. After a while, Hawks left to get both of them some food. While he was gone, Luffy had more check ups and an incomprehensive interview. They were fine for him to do on his own.

He had asked when he'd be able to fly again. "I'm not sure. If the nerve connected to your wings is still fine after a coupe of the surgeries, then I don't see why you can't fly around the lot. If you fall, you'd be right here, so no flying long distances." Dr. Ito put her hand on Luffy's shoulder. "It will be hard to adjust to, but we'll do everything we can to make you comfortable and remove the nerves in a quick and _safe_ manner. There will be no rushing, okay?"

Luffy nodded, thinking she actually cared for her patients. He walked back to his room, taking another pill for suppressing his quirks. They told him it was fine, but he wanted to make sure and looked up the medication to see if it was safe to take so frequently. And the side effects.

The only side effect was that it made your mind foggy and tired. It was fine to have in heavy and frequent doses. It does no damage to the body or quirk in the long run. It made him feel better about it, feel safe. He really shouldn't have, but he looked up the type of surgery he'd be undergoing. It was a more safe procedure than other quirk related surgeries.

Removing them would be easier than reconnecting them. But he'd never known that he was growing new nerves, or would have thought it possible. During anatomy in junior high, nobody was told that nerves could just form. But nobody had Luffy's quirk. Nobody would want it if they knew of the long term side effects.

Hawks came back in, face shield on as he'd flown there and with take out from Luffy's favorite restaurant. They ate on the bed, quiet until Luffy told him that he looked everything up and that the medications and surgery weren't known to cause bad side effects.

"That's good. I brought you all of your unread books that were piling up in your room and your computer. I wish I could take the kitchen and just transport it here for you to cook, since it's a stress reliever." Luffy told him when he got back home he'd blow off hundreds of dollars on cooking, so to be prepared.

The pro-hero chuckled and said that was fine, and he looked forward to it. "You're not in jail, I will come visit you. Todoroki could probably visit." Luffy nodded, saying he knew he wasn't in jail. It would make him feel isolated, but it is better than other situations.

"Thank you for not hesitating to call 911 and get me help," Luffy said, the tears dried fairly quickly. Hawks said that of course he would, even if he wasn't bleeding all over the place.

"And do not apologize for blood stains," he said quickly. Luffy shook his head, even after seven years, Hawks still read him too well. Well, maybe even better than before since they'd lived together so long. It was 2:15 am and Luffy insisted Hawks go get sleep to work tomorrow.

"I'll just be more worried here if you don't sleep and then go do hero duties," Luffy pushed. Hawks nodded, and said he'd talk to him tomorrow. Luffy said he wanted to be the one to let the school know he had to drop out. He didn't want to just look away like it wasn't his job to be responsible over his education. Hawks gave him a smile and left, flying back home. Luffy went back to bed, glad it was a comfortable mattress. His back was sore from the spikes, so he slept on his side.

The next morning, it was Friday. He hadn't even finished his first week of school. He called the school, and told them he had to drop out for that year. Aizawa apparently was in the teacher's lounge when he called. "Luffy, why are you dropping out?" he asked in bafflement, not sounding bored or tired.

"I'm going to be having ongoing surgeries for at least three months, there's no way I can catch up after that long of being gone. And it would be dangerous for me to even try doing hero activities," Luffy replied honestly, voice calm but with a twine of sadness. "It's just lucky it's early and I didn't get attached to anyone."

"These are quirk surgeries?"

"Yeah, I can't talk about it. But yeah, it's for my quirk. It'll take a long time to get better, so I'm dropping out for this year. I'll come back next year," he said in defeat.

Aizawa knew this was the only way, he couldn't miss school that long. He'd said since the beginning that life at UA would be hell. Luffy would be unable to do anything he called difficult. He gripped the phone tightly, not breaking it. His quirks were repressed, so his super strength wasn't there.

"I'm sorry this happened. Hopefully we'll see you next year," Aizawa said in a regretful voice, sounding like he was actually sad this would happen. "I wish you luck with your health." Luffy thanked him and the call was over. He didn't cry, he just sighed and put his phone down. This would be a long three months. Too long. Well, she had said _at least_ three months. Could be longer.

The effects of his dropping out showed by the end of the day, where he was flooded with messages from classmates, asking what happened or telling him they were sorry he had to drop out. It was a huge group chat so Luffy didn't need to message each one individually. They had no idea what kind of surgery would be done for three months. Luffy didn't know what to say, so settled with that there was nerve damage with his quirk and it needed to be fixed through surgery and medication. That was the truth. Just not all of it.

Todoroki had called him a bit later. He sounded surprised, something he rarely did. He wanted confirmation. He was probably upset that they wouldn't be in the grade anymore after being since 3rd grade. "You need surgery for your quirk? What's wrong with it?"

Luffy said, "I'm at the quirk rehab facility. It's actually pretty nice inside. The nerve is swollen and it's made my quirk out of control, so I'm not safe being around anyone else. I've just gotta deal with it. At least Hawks can get here easily," he sighed. Then he looked up. "I'm sorry that I won't be in the same class or grade with you anymore. I guess you'll just have to make some friends without me."

Todoroki was quiet for a minute. "I don't give a damn about you not being in the same grade. You shouldn't have to deal with this, you were so excited to start here."

The technical "high school dropout" sighed, and said he was upset about it, but UA wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. "I'll be pretty bored, though. And I can't go flying, can only go on walks or some flight tests later. I don't want to go into detail about it, really."

Todoroki surprised Luffy by saying, "I know you've been lying about your quirk from the beginning. I'm just sorry it has ended up like this. I'm not mad, and you don't need to tell me about it." Luffy paused. Todoroki knew already and hadn't told anyone. Could he tell him about it?

He asked slowly, "If I tell you, do you promise not to tell anyone else?"

"Absolutely."

So, he told Todoroki the truth about his quirk, and where it led him. He listened and didn't interrupt until the end. Luffy didn't know what to expect his response to be. But he said he was sorry. That Luffy had to have such a complicated one that didn't lead him in the right direction. "Maybe we can have all of them removed besides the three I actually use," he mused, trying to think of any bright side of this. "It's just good the doctors know what they're doing and talking about."

Todoroki agreed, and the door of his room was knocked on. "I gotta go. Don't tell anyone else. I'll keep you updated." The call ended and Luffy told whoever it was to come in. The nurse came in and introduced herself before starting to lead him around and show him where everything was and where he could and couldn't go.

The ward he was in was for more "normal" malfunctions. They had to have space between them for precaution, so the patients couldn't mingle too closely. There was one ward that was for the very, very dangerous ones. Like, those emitting pathogens from their bodies. You had to wear a hazmat suit to go there.

Luffy asked to not see anybody. He didn't want to have unstable quirks in his library. "Of course. We'll stagger you and the other patents' visit time. There aren't many here at the moment. There's not usually a lot, but in all, we have twelve patients and three are in the off limits ward." He nodded, thanking her for the walk around.

He went back into his room and flopped onto the bed. This wasn't going to be fun.

-x-

It was only four days later that he had his first surgery. They'd decided to not touch the two quirk nerves that were the most dominant. The one of his wings and what they assumed was the super strength, since those ones were the ones he used the most and would make sense that those nerves were thicker and stronger from always being used.

It was a snip of the quirk that was most swollen. They were targeting the more damaged nerves first to at least try and bring the swelling down. It didn't take long, and he was given oxygen until he woke up and they did some tests to make sure he was okay. For one hour, they had him not on any suppressants since his body automatically used the regeneration quirk to heal over the wound that they then observed. The nerve was not repaired, which would have made the whole surgery useless. Only the exit wound and any side effects he would normally come with that surgery. Maybe it wouldn't take three months. Then he slept the rest of the day.

He had surgery every two to three days based on the rest of his health. Luffy didn't want them to rush, but he also wanted to not be here for so long. Hawks visited at the wrong times, usually coming when he was asleep, like he was for most of the time. On the suppressants, he had no outbreaks of any uncontrollable quirks. His wings did not change in any way, thankfully. They didn't go away and never hurt like they were trying to force themselves back inside.

A week after he was admitted, some of his class wanted to see him. No one was allowed into the hospital besides family, so only Hawks. So it was over the computer. "Hey, guys," Luffy said tiredly.

There were five others. Uraraka, Iida, Midoriya, Todoroki and Kirishima. "Hey! We miss you, man! Nobody's powers are as awesome as yours are," Kirishima said. Luffy didn't like it, but knew they were trying to be kind and show support. Luffy wished it had been like ripping a bandaid off, forgetting about them. He felt he didn't know them well enough for them to want to zoom.

He could see Midoriya and Uraraka, since he rescued them during their entrance exam. It felt like decades ago. He wished this didn't happen. "Yeah, it sucks. But it's to make me get better, so I have to do it," he replied.

"Are you okay?" Iida asked suddenly. Luffy questioned what he meant. "You look exhausted." Luffy told him he was drugged almost 24/7.

"It's quirk suppressants. I can't use it here until the nerve is back to where it should be," Luffy said honestly. "It doesn't hurt or anything, just makes me sleepy." They all looked shocked, and Luffy would have rather than not try and talk to him, to just leave him alone. But, nice people did this. He just didn't expect them to after a few days of school. He expected them to forget all about him.

"Do the surgeries hurt?" Uraraka asked. Luffy replied he was asleep during them and they didn't last a long time. That he just sleeps it off afterwards. He said he did a lot of sleeping here and then he asked how school was going. He was resigned to the fact he wouldn't go back, maybe this was like a preview for his time at UA next year.

"Aizawa was sad when he told us. So was All Might. Nobody knows what happened, really. Other than that you had to drop out due to health problems. Class is really… interesting. We're trained hard, but that's to be expected. It feels really slow," Midoriya explained. It wasn't very helpful but Luffy nodded.

He joked, "Is Bakugo glad I'm gone, now?" The others said it was the opposite. He was mad Luffy dropped out before he could give him payback for their match, where Luffy destroyed his gauntlets. "Hopefully he'll get over it." They talked about trivial things before Luffy had to prepare for another surgery the next day and eat dinner early. Hawks had visited earlier and brought him some food he actually cooked himself.

"I have to go eat and then sleep. I have to have 12 hours between eating and the surgery," Luffy said. He was glad nobody sent him a pitying look. Todoroki had literally said nothing the whole time, the others probably forgot he was there. But since they weren't all in the same place, Luffy saw the sign he was holding up that the others couldn't see.

 _I promise I'll visit when I can._ He could have sent that in a text message, but this way seemed more personal. He was telling him _sort of_ in person.

-x-

"We've successfully cut 20, and you're showing no negative after effects of either the surgery or the medication. The swelling has gone down considerably and there is less pressure," Dr. Ito said. Hawks and Luffy were sitting on the couch in the common area for the patients.

"Only 20? You said I'd be here at least three months to cut 100. It's already been two months," Luffy said. He had bags under his eyes even though he slept all the time. He'd stopped eating as much. She nodded, and said that their time estimate had been widely off. "So I'll be here even longer?"

"No, for your health, we think we need to release you," she said kindly. Luffy didn't understand. He was having no side effects and his quirks weren't reacting badly. Luffy pointed out they are a fifth of the way done.

Hawks said, "Luffy, have you looked in the mirror in a while?" He said it softly, so Luffy got up and went to the mirror on the wall.

Luffy said, "I'm just a little tired. It's the drugs." He knew he didn't look the best, but still. He wanted to get it done all at once. He wanted to be purged of the useless quirks, never wanting to risk going out of control again. It was scary, and he'd upset Hawks and messed up the apartment. He hated that. He was unstable and dangerous and he didn't want to do it anymore.

"You've also lost weight and color," Hawks said, though not in a rude or reprimanding way. He asked the doctor what her ideal plan would be.

"Since you heal quickly from the nerve removals due to the regenerative quirk, you could leave but have small surgeries to slowly siphon them off." Luffy wasn't happy, and insisted that if they did that, he'd just collect more than they destroyed. He wanted it finished as soon as possible, even if it took them more time.

He didn't have school or a job to make him hesitate. But the doctor said she couldn't keep him there like that. He glared at the wood floor. If they could do it gradually, what was the point of him dropping out? It was way too late to enrol again for that year. "I don't want that to ever happen to me again. And you got rid of _20._ I walk past a lot more people every day than that. I'll get more and it will have all been for nothing!"

Hawks looked like he agreed and glanced at the doctor. "What about the quirk inhibitor? Hawks told me about that but nothing ever came of it," Luffy pointed out. Dr. Ito told him that it was for simple quirks. His was by far not simple, the most complex they'd ever seen. Luffy sat down and put his head in his hands.

"I don't want that to happen again. Ever again," Luffy lamented. Hawks walked over and put his hand on Luffy's head. He was asked when the last time he'd flown was. "A couple weeks."

"Why don't we go on a flight and then come back," he offered. Luffy knew what he meant, he wasn't being calm. He didn't need to be calm, he was allowed to be upset, but it also wouldn't get anywhere if he just yelled and threw a fit. He hadn't had a new dose that day, so he would be able to fly.

God, two months and twenty removals. How many quirks were in the world? Would Luffy take every single one he sees and doom himself? Why couldn't he just not want them? There were plenty he had that he didn't want. Like the one where spikes came from his back. And he couldn't just remove nerves when they pop up. He needed surgery by trained doctors.

He couldn't remove them at any moment if he reached capacity. He gripped the back of his neck. It wasn't sore anymore. He didn't know what to do, but was brought back to the situation with a worried mutter of his name. "Is there some way to make me not see quirks? A way to not process them, or whatever?"

Hawks' eyes widened and he looked down, a thoughtful look on his face. "Possibly."

"How?" Luffy asked, grasping at straws. He wanted to live as a hero without hurting others or himself. He couldn't be a hero if seeing other quirks doomed him. That basically meant he couldn't be around anybody.

"There is equipment used by the military to search for quirkless people, ignoring people with quirks. With tinkering, perhaps we could get you glasses or goggles that doesn't let you see the quirks. Of course this is hypothetical. It might be nonsense, since so many quirks are outwardly visible, like your wings," Hawks said, voice getting faster the more he spoke.

Luffy felt hope bloom in his chest. "Can you get it?" Hawks nodded with a grin. He was a top pro-hero, he had reach in many places. "Can I stay here until a prototype is made?"

Dr. Ito said that wasn't going to happen. "You can go home and I will give you enough doses of suppressants if you go outside. Staying inside will keep you from gaining more quirks. Just don't watch TV or play games," she said. Luffy gave a watery smile.

"I c-can still be a hero, then?" he asked, trying to hide the tears. For the first time in a long time, Hawks hugged Luffy.

"I'll find something out. You'll be a hero, don't worry," he said in a very firm voice. "Now let's get you home." Luffy nodded, and he gathered the small amount of personal belongings and went back home, this time in the car as they didn't know how Luffy would do with flying after having gone over a week without doing so. There had never been a break more than three days or his wings would get stiff and even painful if he flew too fast.

That was how it was with most mutants types, if there was something heavy on the body. It was how it was, there was no changing it. When they got home, Luffy went to his room and flopped onto the bed. Hawks had gotten everything fixed while he was gone. It was nice, not to see the scorch marks or bloody carpet.

"Welcome home. I'll make sure you can be a hero," Hawks swore.


	9. New Names and Faces

#### OtherwiseAce: Thank you! I fixed it. And I'm happy you like this story so much <3

#### Anime_Moon00: I love bringing out emotion in my readers, so yes, I enjoy crushing your hearts like grapes! A lot of angst happens later in the story. Might be hard for some people to get through it lol 

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**More people introduced in this one!**

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Luffy snuggled his face into his blankets, smelling of the detergent they used. He was finally home. He texted everybody, but got no answers. It made him a bit alarmed, that all of them didn't answer with something so urgent.

Then he checked the news on his phone, making sure there was no video attached that he might see quirks from, and read about his classmates being attacked by villains at USJ, a training ground that UA used sometimes.

He read it, and was thankful to get to the bottom of one of the articles and read that none of the students were killed. It was a new group of villains. A lame name but the League of Villains. Hawks wasn't anywhere near U.A., so he wasn't called in. Plus, they had All Might with them. He wondered if he would have been any help.

Well, he clearly wasn't needed since they made it through the attack on their own. Luffy wouldn't be at UA again until next year. He shouldn't get involved with stuff like that much. But he stayed up as long as he could waiting for any updates or replies.

"Luffy, I have ingredients for curry," Hawks called. Luffy jolted off of the bed and ran to the kitchen and did as he promised. Cooked way too much food for two people, filling the entire bar counter without a complaint from Hawks at all.

Luffy only left the apartment to fly again, Hawks helping him out in case he was stiff and needed assistance. But after thoroughly stretching, he was flying back to normal. He hadn't flown like this in two months and it was wonderful. It distracted himself from the worry about his former classmates.

He'd gotten messages back, and everyone was happy for him, and told him about USJ and what they went through. To be honest, he was glad he got out before that mess started. When he and Hawks were on their way back after an hour of flying around the outskirts of the city, high above the buildings, he said, "Shiketsu hasn't started school yet. They start a lot later than UA If you want to try a second chance."

Luffy's eyes widened. "It might not happen if the goggles don't work, but better safe than sorry, right?" the pro-hero asked, looking to the side to see Luffy nod vigorously. "They start three weeks from now. You already have your costume after I picked it up. But if you want to return to UA it might be jarring."

"I don't care which school anymore, I don't want my own quirk to hold me back like this," Luffy said in a strong voice. Hawks said, "Thought so". When they got back, Luffy immediately enrolled online, submitting his scores from UA and recommendation to them. It was lucky the UA test was similar to other school's. He wouldn't need to retake the test.

He got an answer the next day, them accepting him and giving him paperwork about the school he didn't have. It was a convenient reply and nice and quick. He couldn't wait, but he was nervous he wouldn't have what he needed in time.

It only took a week for Hawks to bring up a plastic box that was pretty heavy. He set it on the floor in the living room. "It's for you," he said. Luffy unlatched the lid and pulled it up to see Styrofoam. He pulled it off and saw multiple types of goggles and glasses. There was one identical to the face shield he had for his hero costume, regular sunglasses, goggles for snow environment, swim goggles and a bike helmet.

He put on the sunglasses and saw slightly tinted blue that didn't affect his vision much. He could get used to it. "How do we test it?" Luffy asked nervously, so afraid it wouldn't work. Hawks said he had a friend come over to patrol with him.

"He's gonna come up here to get a cupcake you made and you'll watch him use his quirk. Once he leaves, you see if you can use it, and then text me the outcome," Hawks explained. Luffy nodded, and tried on the other ones. They were all pretty comfortable. He asked how much they cost.

"An appropriate amount for you to be able to leave the house without writhing in agony." A way of Hawks telling him he didn't give a shit about the cost.

Luffy looked around with the glasses, seeing what everything looked like with them on. He would need to wear these everywhere besides home.

Well, if it made him able to be around other people without needing freaking _surgery,_ then who cares? They were comfortable anyway. He brought the tub to the bathroom and looked in the mirror for each one.

It was Hawks break right now, bringing it up to him. But he had to go back down. "I'll message you when my friend and I are coming up. It'll be nice and short." Luffy nodded, thanking him. "Of course, this shouldn't be surprising."

Luffy smiled and said it shouldn't be. He grinned and left. Luffy sat on the couch, and started reading with the glasses on. It was two hours later that Hawks brought his friend up. His quirk was obvious, he had scales on his arms and legs and webbed fingers. Would be easy to see if he stored it.

He introduced himself as Absolute Zero. Luffy wondered why, and had never heard of him. "I hear you cook?" Luffy nodded, saying someone had to do it around there, but in a joking voice. Hawks admitted he was a shit cook compared to Luffy. "The cupcake is in the fridge." He had made them on his baking spree after the cooking spree that got them enough leftovers for lunch and dinner for three days in a row.

There were still many desserts in the fridge, and Absolute Zero tried the cupcake before eating the whole thing enthusiastically. Luffy was glad he liked it. After talking a bit more, he went down to patrol with Hawks. The moment from the front door was closed, Luffy attempted to use that ability. Nothing happened. He knew it was supposed to form, knew the feeling, but it just didn't.

He went to the couch and sat down, hunched over and having a watery smile. Maybe… maybe this would work. It had to. Or else he would get all of those extra quirks removed, no matter how long it took, no matter how long it depressed him to be there. He would be a hero and help Hawks and repay him for everything he'd done.

Luffy didn't want to be a sidekick just cause he wanted to repay him. Luffy wanted to stay with the only person who had shown him true kindness when he was homeless and hated the world. Even if he moved out when he was older, he still wanted to see the pro-hero often. And Hawks hadn't made him want to be a hero at all, Luffy just went that way without trying or noticing until he was sure.

-x-

Luffy wore his flying glasses while walking around with Hawks on patrol, looking closely at everyone with a quirk. None of them registered, his brain didn't process these quirks and he had definitely seen over 20, the maximum capacity he had at the moment.

He went out every day, either with Hawks or by himself and made sure, over and over, that he didn't react to them. He'd been doing this for a week already and it was going perfectly. The glasses or goggles were a minor inconvenience that wasn't even worth complaining about to himself. It was necessary, and they were very high quality. He'd dropped the glasses and accidentally stepped on them. Not a crack or scratch, but a wound on his foot that healed immediately. That reassured him that they wouldn't just break.

He had flown his way to Shiketsu multiple times, memorizing the direct route and timing how long it took him to get there. A lot longer than to UA Over 45 minutes going at high speed. An hour at normal high speed, not using his super strength. But he could deal with that. Flying wasn't unpleasant.

So, on the first day of school, he arrived early, leaving too soon in nervousness. He wasn't this nervous about U.A., but here he was. Hopefully that feeling would go away. He had the hat he had to wear in his backpack, and put it on once he landed. The uniform was a little heavier, but fine. They were modified like U.A.'s for his wings.

He walked into the building and headed to his class, glad he wasn't late in the semester. He took the flying goggles off and changed them with his regular glasses. They looked more like glasses instead of sunglasses. They were very lightly tinted blue, but it could look like they just reacted to bright lights.

The building's inside looked fairly similar to U.A., but also more fancy. He didn't have a preference, and he decided to stop comparing right then. He entered the classroom, once again getting all the looks for his wings. They looked much better than they had at the facility, he brushed them and washed them, so they were nice and fluffy now.

He sat in the back, and the looks continued, with some of the girls going over to tell him that they were very pretty, asking if they were inconvenient. Luffy said they were only inconvenient because he needed special clothes with them, but that it didn't bother him much. "I'm Nami," a red head said, shaking Luffy's hand. The other girl was Vivi, who had blue hair.

He was sitting next to a guy with lighter green hair than Midoriya who was napping with his arms crossed. Another was blonde and talking to some other girls with a bright grin on. Then there was the one sitting right beside him, looking extremely nervous.

The teacher came in, looking much happier than Aizawa. The class went silent, and the guy in front of him was still napping, so Luffy discretely shook his shoulder to wake him up.

"Hello first years, I'm Shanks. Go ahead and call me that, though I am still your teacher," he said and the class nodded. "All of you have come here because you were either recommended or did well enough in the practical exam. I expect all of you to live up to your victories or the opinions of those who recommended you.

"We're having an introduction to one another outside. We're getting to know our quirks," he said. "Change into your gym clothes." The student who looked the least human asked why they were getting to know one another's quirks. He was furry and tall with a blue nose. "It will make it more difficult to fight one another if you already know, and it will let you get to know each other better. This may be Shiketsu, but we still promote good relationships with one another. Meet me outside."

The class got up and found drawers open in the wall, though they were different than the ones at U.A., and they were in plastic wrappings with their names on them. There was a changing room with stalls like bathroom stalls and not curtained ones. They had their own shoes, so Luffy's boots would do.

"Thanks for waking me up," the green haired one said. "My name is Zoro."

"Luffy," the winged student replied. Zoro asked him if he was the guy that patrolled with Hawks sometimes. "Ah, yeah. He took me in when I was 8. Taught me how to fly." Zoro raised his eyebrows, though not in a disbelieving way. He then asked if his wings were ever a nuisance. "The good outweighs the bad in my opinion."

Luffy felt he could be friends with this one. He didn't know whether to tell the class everything about his three main powers all under his Argentavis. But suddenly being super strong might break trust. And he wanted to be friends with these people. He would be going here longer than he had at U.A.

They all went outside and there was an area with benches that they got to sit on. It was a comfortable atmosphere, all of them sitting on the benches to talk. Luffy explained his obvious wings, the strength and the regeneration.

"You have regenerative powers?" Chopper asked, the one that didn't look human. Luffy nodded. He did what he did last time to show them. He pulled up the pant leg and found a rock and slashed his leg, making some gasp, only to heal and leave a little bit of blood that he wiped off.

"Hmmm, lucky," Usopp said. Then they went around and introduced their quirks. Zoro could turn his arms into any type of weapon, Sanji could harden his legs similar to Kirishima's power, but only his legs, Usopp was able to make different types of bombs but only if he had ingested the chemicals he needed to make them. So for him, drinking gasoline was safe. Weird.

Nami could release little balls of heat from one hand and cold from the other, able to create clouds. It was interesting. Chopper was basically just super strong. Vivi could dissolve non living things into sand. Rebecca's power was that she could shrink or enlarge her body, but not by much, Law could create an area and then control the objects in that area in various ways, though he couldn't do much at one time.

The other four students didn't really cooperate about explaining their powers, though Shanks told them they would do as he said or they'd be expelled. So, similar to Aizawa in threatening expulsion.

They reluctantly agreed. Reiju could secrete poison from her body or extract poison from others. She could kill or save with her power. Ichiji could release light blasts or cause explosions. Niji could use his body to electrocute others, but the electricity couldn't leave his body like Kaminari. Yonji could extend his arms out and his punches were powerful.

Over all, those three didn't look very nice. They were already looking at Luffy in a rude way. Oh well, you can't get along with everyone. After that, Luffy was surprised that Shanks wanted them to do a fitness test similar to Aizawa's.

And he even admitted he got the idea from Aizawa. That they were friends, even though they were in a sort of competing school. It was interesting. Luffy wasn't considered anything special here since his score in the practical exam wasn't available for all of these people to see. Sanji went first. Instead of throwing, he tossed the softball up and kicked it, punting it 709 meters. The only other ones who made it a very long distance were Zoro, Chopper, Luffy and Yonij.

Luffy's went furthest, same as last time he did this. The other exercises were similar, only nobody was threatened with expulsion. They still did their best. Aizawa really had no reason to do so other than to scare them. Shanks seemed a lot nicer. He smiled more and didn't look absolutely exhausted.

He wasn't the most athletic here, that went to Sanji. He was faster, but Sanji did better with the boring stuff. The pushups, crunches, etc. The girls did alright, but Nami's power wasn't helpful in the physical exam. Luffy could already tell there were three Bakugo's in this class. He ignored them. They didn't glare at him, but gave him haughty looks. Luffy could care less.

Like he had before, Luffy made his own lunch and sat with his new classmates. They introduced themselves more in detail, other than just their quirks. Zoro seemed… sleepy. After he finished eating, he was napping in his chair. Sanji looked at Luffy's food and seemed impressed. "Did you make that yourself?" Luffy nodded. "I make my own food, too." He showed Luffy his own lunch. It looked and smelled good. "Wanna trade?"

"Sure." They tasted each other's food, and from that moment on, Luffy was sure they'd be talking about food a lot. Sanji's food was really good and juicy. The spices weren't as captivating as Luffy's, so they ended up trading recipes on binder paper. It was nice. Usopp kept asking Luffy questions about flying, and Luffy explained it all.

"You really live with Hawks? That's so cool," he said. Luffy said Hawks worked a lot, of course, so he was home alone a lot. It didn't bother him, but Hawks was busy on normal days. Nami commented that he was attractive. Luffy looked at her in amusement. Hawks would probably find that funny.

Then the Three Jis walked over, and looked at Luffy with that expression again. "Did I do something to piss you off?" he asked, really not wanting to have to deal with this. They had a much smaller class and there were three Bakugo's, not just one. These ones seemed almost worse than Bakugo.

"You think you're cool for living with Hawks?"

"Not especially. He's like family, there's nothing weird or special about it," he replied easily.

Yonji said, "Don't expect to be the best in this class."

"Never said I would," Luffy commented casually. He wouldn't bite. He wasn't going to get angry or flustered. It wasn't him. They scoffed and walked away. "I don't understand people like them," he sighed in annoyance. Sanji said they wouldn't change their attitude and felt threatened by him.

"You related to them?" Zoro asked, suddenly awake.

Sanji nodded. They were his adoptive brothers, but they lived with his step dad and he lived with his mom. After lunch was the hero basics class. There wasn't even an introduction like All Might's, just directions to get changed and go to the training grounds.

They got changed, Sanji offering to zip up Luffy's costume back. Luffy thanked him and closed his eyes before switching the glasses with the costume face shield/goggles. The costumes looked different, not as fancy or unique as U.A.s. More modest. Luffy's was not too complicated, that would go to the Three Jis, which was what he was going to refer to the jerks as.

The teacher's name was Rayleigh, and he had a smile on, but not like Shanks' smile. One that promised pain that would also be fun. Somehow. Shiketsu wasn't nearly as massive as U.A., but it was still very large and had multiple training grounds. Rayleigh introduced himself as the hero basics teacher, and that it would be a long school year for them.

"My quirk is going to cause you all a lot of trouble," he said in an amused voice. "First type of training is to catch me. The first one to touch me wins." Everyone blinked twice before they ran, Luffy shooting first as fast as he could, grabbing at him, only he side stepped him easily. Everyone ran at him, and no matter if they used their quirk, he evaded them. He was able to run quickly and they were running into one another.

It was a mess and by the end, most of them were sweaty, some laying on the ground panting. "Is that all you have?" The second wave of attacks began, but no one could touch him. They were each so close, but he seemed to be sensing what they'd do before they did it. There was really no point anymore.

"Alright, by the end of the school year, I won't pass anybody who can't catch me." Oh, there it was. Well, at least it wasn't expulsion. Most of them nodded, but others whined or lamented that. Rayleigh said they had to go all out in this class. Most of the points come from it.

Once the day ended, Luffy exchanged numbers with a couple of the students he got along with well, and then went home. He flew off to make the hour-long trip home, but decided to get a smoothie first and drop down into the nearest town to get one before flying off again.

He did all his homework the moment he got inside through the window and then checked the news about the USJ incident. The school was getting a lot of slamming from the public. He felt bad for them, but was glad he didn't get mixed up in that.

He went online and looked up the Vinsmoke family, which was the last name of the Three Jis and Reiju. She wasn't part of them since she minded her own business and hadn't been rude at all. Looked like their father was a big wig in another country with agencies in Japan. He was very rich, but Luffy wondered why his kids were in Japan when he was in America.

Luffy got to cooking dinner and his lunch for tomorrow. Hawks got there late, looking tired. "Everything okay?" Luffy asked. Hawks nodded, saying that day had a lot of action, and that he was taking a quick nap before dinner. "Okay," Luffy said, frowning. Wondering what had happened that day.

When it was getting late, Luffy knocked on Hawks' bedroom door. "Are you coming to eat or should I put the food in the fridge?"

"Fridge," Hawks mumbled, but loud enough for Luffy to hear. He asked if he was okay. But Hawks got up and came to the door, frowning. "I gotta talk to you," he said, concerning Luffy. He nodded and sat on the couch after putting the food in the fridge for him to eat later. If he didn't eat dinner now, he'd probably get up in the middle of the night and eat.

He pulled out his phone and showed it to Luffy. "Do you recognize this person?" he asked. Luffy took the phone, seeing a black haired guy with freckles with a small frown. He shook his head and asked who it was. "He claims to be your biological brother. He approached me today and asked to see you."

Luffy's expression went cold. "That was my reaction at first, too. Why didn't he help you? Why didn't he call the cops on his parents to save you? I asked him these things, kind of angrily. Apparently, he was the one to call the heroes seven years ago in the slums. He said he waited for you to come to the shelter, but since I took you from the hospital, you never arrived there, and there was no trace of you in any paperwork.

"After that, he was sent to America for causing your old parents so much trouble. He just turned 18 and came back to look for you before seeing your face in an old news article from a couple months ago. He wanted to talk to you," Hawks explained. Luffy was frowning deeply and then asked his name. "Ace."

Then he said he turned him away for right now. He got his number since his story made sense timeline wise. Hawks sent Luffy the phone number over text and Luffy just stared at it for a bit. Ace. He didn't think this was some trick, but he didn't know what he'd do about it. He was happy now, living with Hawks and finally going to school. He wanted to be a sidekick.

What did Ace want? He'd find out tomorrow. He was eating and then going to bed to go to school the next day. "I'm going to bed early," he mumbled, his phone weighing a thousand pounds in his pocket. Hawks told him to try and get sleep, try not to think about it. "I'll try."


	10. Chapter 10

#### Pixels674 & SvalbardGirl: our precious boy has arrived to try and have a brother <3

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**Baby boy Ace is in this chapter! Enjoy~**

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The next day at school was really fun. It distracted him from Ace very well. At least, the last class did. They weren't fighting two on two like at U.A., but it was a battle royal around the campus. If they damaged any part of the campus, they got last place and would be doing detention. The last one standing was the winner. Of course, they weren't knocking each other out. They had headbands and would need to snatch them away.

The person who lasted till the end won. There was no prize other than to be the winner and start the school year at the number one place. Luffy declined playing on a team to help the others. He didn't want to be bogged down. He wanted to win, he was going to win.

This campus was more open, and the forested area was smaller, but the trees were further apart. So he perched in the highest branch of one of the more tall trees. He was able to watch students in fights. He knew what he'd do.

When he saw Sanji get Zoro and Usopp's headbands, pissing them off, he silently swooped in and yanked the headbands out of Sanji's hands and off his head. He flew back off, grinning. "Asshole!" Sanji shouted. Luffy chuckled. He did this for the other ones, sneaking up from behind quietly, gliding just at the right angle to make zero noise.

The Three Jis were very angry at this. He got all of the headbands without even fighting. Yonji tried extending his arm after Luffy, but he turned on the super strength and got right out of reach before landing in front of Rayleigh. "I won," he grinned, holding all of the headbands.

"Unexpected approach considering how you did at the UA exam." Luffy looked a little sheepish and said he didn't have just one strategy. He said he also patrolled with Hawks and never did any fighting since he wasn't allowed. "Well, great job." The others came over, all grumbling.

"You didn't even fight!" Yonji accused.

Luffy replied with, "Why fight when it's not necessary? We didn't have to defeat each other, just take the head bands." Sanji huffed. Rayleigh said there would be situations where fighting wasn't the best course of action. "Being stealthy or unassuming will need to be mastered as well." The Three Jis were glaring at him. It was to be expected, to be honest. He wasn't surprised. He knew that they'd never get along. Nami and Vivi said that they didn't even think about sneaking.

"It's easy for you cause you have wings," Rebecca grumbled. Luffy nodded, since that was the truth. They were told to go change and go back to the classroom. The only ones who held a grudge over the match were the Three Jis. Everyone else moved on, since someone would have been the winner regardless, and there was no point in being hung up about it.

After school was over, he didn't leave right away, but looked at his phone, the number Hawks gave him. He really didn't know how to feel. He balled his fists before putting the phone back in his backpack pocket and flying off, not going straight home. He went to the park where he and Hawks had gone years ago to teach Luffy to fly.

He sat at the beach shore of the lake he'd crashed into. He took his boots off and his hat was already in his backpack, taking his face shield off as well, putting it in his lap. He looked out at the body of water that held fond memories.

Finally, he decided to text Ace. _Hi. This is Luffy._

He waited for only five minutes before Ace texted back. _I'm so sorry. I wish I could have saved you when we were kids. I should have tried harder. I should have looked more. I should have run away to find you._

Luffy didn't know how to respond. _I like my life now. Hawks saved me._

_I know. I talked to him. He seems very protective of you. I'm happy he took you in. Even though I never found you after he took you in, I'm still happy that you have had a good life._

The teen looked at that text, and didn't know how to respond. Talking over text was weird. _Where are you right now?_

He gave an address to an apartment complex. Luffy got out Google Maps and followed it to Ace's place. He was worried, nervous. He didn't message Hawks about coming home late. It was only 4:30. He had two to three hours depending on what happened that day while at work. He wasn't always patrolling, he had to go to meetings, see other pro-heroes, do paperwork and office work.

He landed in the complex and saw Ace sitting on a bench in front of the street, jiggling his leg in what seemed like nervousness. He took a deep breath and then walked up to the guy claiming to be his brother. He looked up, and stood immediately. It was awkward, and Ace was clearly resisting the urge to hug him. But he didn't, since they were strangers. Or at least, to Luffy he was.

Ace remembered him, Luffy didn't. "Hi," Luffy said awkwardly. Then he asked what Ace's reasoning was to come back, voice bolder.

He looked down and bit his lip. "I just turned 18. I couldn't leave on my own before. I haven't spoken to our parents in five years, and I looked online for you. Your wings threw me off, you didn't have them when we were little."

"Yeah. I chose them to be my main quirk," Luffy said. Then he asked what Ace objective was. He replied that he wanted to be part of Luffy's life. He wanted to be his friend, even if he'd never see him as a brother. "I'm still living with Hawks."

Ace made sure to tell him he didn't plan on interfering in anything, it wasn't his right to do so. But he wanted to be friends. Luffy stood awkwardly. "I don't know," he settled with. "I don't know you, I don't remember you, or anything from that time. My first memory I can recall is the pain of being thrown out of the car. I hope you weren't there for that," he said the last part coldly, showing that he wouldn't have an easy time being Luffy's friend or brother if he had been there, even if he was only 8.

He shook his head, saying he was told that Luffy was being taken to a family member's house. "I only found out 6 months later, when that family member died and you never came back. I heard them talk about it, on the phone with someone. I called the heroes to go look for you, look for the kids and clean that place up. I didn't know if you were still there, still alive. But you never showed up at the shelter I waited at, all of the little kids being brought there. I thought… the worst. That'd you'd died or were kidnapped for your quirk. I didn't expect you to be taken in by Hawks."

Luffy owed his good luck to Ace's choice to call for help. "Thank you. For calling for help, so Hawks could rescue me," he said. Ace nodded with a smile.

He said, "That's the best part of this. I was able to help give you a good home life, even if it wasn't with me. After they found out about what I did, they sent me to live with an estranged family member in America where I had no hope in getting you back. It's been ten years. I know and I understand if you want nothing to do with me," Ace said sincerely.

Luffy looked down. "I don't know. I don't know what to think. I'm glad you didn't find me before, but I'm also mad that I got thrown out of the car and you didn't even know." He knew it wasn't Ace's fault, though. "I'm not who I was or would have been."

"I know. I know, and I didn't do anything about it. Even if I wasn't in the car, I should have suspected. I should have suspected something, they weren't even subtle about it. They said they took you to live somewhere else but you left your stuffed bear there. You wouldn't have ever left him. I should have known, but I was stupid. I'm sorry."

Ace had tears in his eyes, looking like he hated himself. He was grimacing, clenching his fists. Luffy couldn't blame him for what their parents did. That wasn't right. "I… I don't want to say I forgive you, but I don't blame you. You were little, too." Ace nodded and said he wished he was older when everything happened.

He sat back down on the bench, and Luffy did, too. "Thank you for coming to speak with me. It was awkward over text," Ace said. Luffy nodded, asking if Ace had a job. He nodded. "I submitted to help out in a few agencies. I went to hero school, too, just in America." He pulled out his provisional license. "Not at Hawks' agency, but others. I did my research on heroes here. I also have a lot of inheritance money since grandmother died. I took it and moved here," he explained.

Luffy nodded and then said he should be getting home. Ace looked sad, clearly wanting to spend more time with him. "I'll see you this weekend or something," Luffy said, and Ace gave a small smile and nodded. Luffy adjusted his face shield again and flew home, looking back once to see Ace watching him leave.

Hawks didn't know he'd been gone. He wondered what the reaction would be. He never really made big demands or decisions for Luffy anymore, since he wasn't his dad. He made executive decisions about Luffy being ill, but not about personal choices. He trusted Luffy with that stuff since he'd always been responsible.

So when he got home, after he did his homework, he cooked simple pasta, too distracted to cook something fancy. Hawks walked in at just the tight time once the food was ready. Luffy was quiet, and Hawks asked if everything was okay.

"I went to see Ace. It was sad. He seemed so devastated about everything that happened. He moved here with inheritance to try and find me again. He had a hero license and applied to work at some agencies. I don't even know what his quirk is," Luffy explained honestly. Hawks didn't scold him, which Luffy was happy about. "Would you ever want me to leave? If he asked me to live with him or something?"

Hawks put his fork down and leaned forward. "I won't trap you here, but I don't want you to leave anytime soon. You're still just 15, and if you did move in with Ace, I would want it to be at least after a year of knowing him."

Luffy smiled and said he wasn't planning on leaving, so he didn't need to be worried. "Just because he's here now doesn't mean I have to go and live with him. But… it would be nice to have a brother. I'm just sad I missed out on little brother years. Well, I had five years with him, even if I don't know how I was treated for those five years. I'm not gonna ask. I don't want to hear it was some perfect home life but I was tossed anyway. I also don't want to hear that I was abused since being even littler," he mused, picking at his food.

"I'm sorry," Hawks said. Luffy said he didn't do anything wrong. It was all his parents. No one was to blame except them.

"I'm just glad you didn't give up on me when I first told you to fuck off." Hawks said he was a hero and had plenty interactions like that. That just was one of his first. "Maybe my attitude made you a more patient hero. You had to deal with my shit and all."

Hawks nodded and then asked how school had gone. "Alright. I won a battle royal in the class without even fighting. Just swooped in and stole their prizes and won. I'm calling the wanna be bullies the 'Three Jis' because there's no way I'd think or pronounce all of those names." Hawks asked what their last name was. "Vinsmoke. Their dad is some kinda rich dude in America. I looked him up."

The pro-hero said he'd never heard of him. "Then he must not be much of a bigwig if the number three hero doesn't even recognize his name."

"Perhaps. Or may he just might not be big in Japan, but is in the rest of the world," Hawks replied. Luffy wondered why they were all in Japan if their father and his corporation were in America. Hawks shrugged, saying he had no idea.

After making lunch for the next day and putting it in the fridge, Luffy went to bed. "Luffy, I hope it works out with Ace and you can have a real family," Hawks said with a true smile. Luffy knew he felt like family, there was no reason to correct him. Luffy grinned and said he hoped so, too.

-x-

"Luffy?" Shanks asked. Luffy jolted and realized he'd been asked a question. He was zoning out, thinking about Ace. Shanks repeated the question without reprimanding him. He answered it, even if it was automatic, and he went right back to daydreaming.

He was distracted all day, but managed to make it through with minimal effort. Work, eat, work, go home. Even distracted like he was, he was able to be the first team to make it to the top of the rock wall. He wasn't the very first, that one went to Rebecca, but he was part of the winning group. Ace wasn't at UA long enough to compare this, but Rayleigh said that hero basics training would be staggered between fights, quirk training and physical training. All of those needed to be advanced to be a hero. Luffy wasn't the fittest of the class, even if he was the strongest. He showed that. He walked and ran like normal people when it didn't matter.

After classes were over, Zoro asked him if everything was okay. Luffy nodded. "Just some family stuff," he replied, changing his glasses, making sure his eyes were closed in between. Zoro asked if he was alright. Luffy nodded again. "Just a family member I didn't know I had popped up. I'll see you tomorrow," and he flew off, cruising higher than usual. He rarely went this high, but he wanted to only think about himself.

He went above the lowest layer of clothes, making him damp and cold. But there was nothing around to distract him. What would he do about Ace? He tried to think of a way they could be brothers, but Luffy honestly didn't know what family was supposed to be like. Was it just like friends, or were you supposed to be closer? He wished he had someone to talk to about that, but Hawks never had a biological family and Todoroki wasn't close to his.

He'd told Todoroki about his new glasses, and he was happy about that, but was surprised when Luffy chose to go to another school. He couldn't tell if he was mad about that. He hoped that wasn't the case or it would be hurtful. He wished he could have continued to go to UA to stay with him, but Shiketsu was pretty nice, too. His teachers were nice so far, and he got along well with most of his classmates.

Luffy had dialed back his smartness in the classes. He let others answer and not only him, even though he knew the answer to most of the questions asked since he did homework early. He'd requested from all of his teachers to give him all of the next week's homework on Friday of the previous.

They seemed happy to do so, and he planned on turning everything in early. So when Friday did come, he got all of next week's homework and finished all he could do at the moment, leaving the rest once he learned about it more. He knew it was the same amount of working, doing it ahead and doing it on time, but ahead always felt better to him.

When he was done with his homework, he hesitated to message Ace, but finally did, typing on the phone quickly. _Hi. It's Luffy._

Ace already had his number, so it was kind of stupid to say who it was. He waited for a message for over an hour before his phone buzzed out on the roof in his little area, reading. _Hi, Luffy. Sorry it took so long, I got accepted to work at Endeavor's._

 _Oh. Congratulations._ Luffy replied. Ace asked if he wanted to meet up and they could talk about things more. Luffy was interested in Ace's life in America and wondered what his quirk was, if it was good enough for him to be accepted to Endeavor's agency.

He knew Hawks liked Endeavor, admired him, but Luffy didn't like him personally, knowing what he'd don't to Todoroki and his family. He'd never told any of that to Hawks, even as a kid not wanting to ruin his image of Endeavor. He may have thought he didn't deserve the admiration, but he wouldn't ruin it for Hawks.

 _Okay. Where?_ Luffy asked. Ace replied that he didn't know Japan well anymore. _We could go to a park, or a cafe. I don't know._ They settled on going to a Starbucks near where Ace worked now. It would be much more convenient for Luffy to fly there than to have Ace have to drive someplace.

 _I'm going to go to a Starbucks with Ace in north Kyoto_ Luffy texted Hawks and gave him the address. Even if Luffy didn't think Ace was a murderer or kidnapper, Hawks would probably feel better in the long run knowing where he was, even though he flew around everywhere he wanted and always came home just fine.

He got to the Starbucks first and sat outside at one of the tables. Ace came from the parking lot, walking quickly. "Hey," Ace said cheerily, though there was a waver in his voice. Luffy greeted him next. Ace was much more nervous than Luffy. He had no relationship or knew Ace, so this going bad wouldn't affect him too badly, but it would for Ace, who was searching for his lost brother and wanting to rekindle.

They got their drinks and then went back out to one of the outdoor tables. "You can take off your face shield. It's not too bright. Or do you have prescription glasses?"

Luffy answered with the truth. "I have to have these on anytime in public. I can't see other peoples' quirks this way. My brain doesn't register them so I don't store new ones." Ace clearly wondered why, as anyone would want Luffy's power. When they didn't know the tolls that come with it. "Too many quirks makes me unable to function normally. I had to have two months of surgery to remove 20 of the quirk nerves. If I fill back up, the nerves press against each other and make them uncontrollable," he explained.

Ace looked very troubled by that. "I'm sorry. That sounds terrible." Luffy nodded and said it had cost him his place at UA and he had to move schools. "What are the glasses made of?"

"Government stuff that is used to detect people without quirks, ignoring those with them. I don't know exactly how it works, but it does. What's your quirk?" Luffy asked, voice and posture stiff but trying to be easy going. Trying to imitate Hawks. It wasn't going very well, he was uncomfortable and awkward.

Meeting anybody new wouldn't do this, it was that Ace was his family. Long lost family. "I can move things with my mind. A more advanced telekinetic. I didn't always use it for the best activities, but I don't use it like that anymore." Of course, Luffy asked what he used to do. "Ruin class projects for people I didn't like…" he said awkwardly. "In junior high, there were these three guys I hated, they were so meant to my friends. So I shared a ceramics class with them. Let's just say they were very clumsy with their projects."

Luffy laughed. "Well, I never used my power in front of anybody else. After I got Hawks' wings, he wanted to teach me to fly because he said it would make me happy. These aren't his, but someone I saw in a cutscene for some old video game. I used to be able to take them out and then suck them back inside. After awhile, I decided to keep them out and I can't put them back in anymore," Luffy explained. "The nerve for this one is a lot thicker than the others, thankfully."

They weren't near other people who could hear their conversation. Otherwise he would be saying nothing of his quirk in public. Ace smiled. "Hawks seems like a really good person." Luffy nodded, saying he was. "Did he adopt you?"

"Nah, that would be weird. He would have only been 14 years older. He just took me in. He found me walking around with 60 nails stuck in me, knocked me out because I refused to go to the hospital with him. He's like… a close friend/roommate. He used to be the one always taking care of me, but now I do the cooking and cleaning and go to school. He pays for stuff, I don't have a job yet."

Ace winced at the 60 nails part. "It wasn't pretty, living like that. Besides the scars from the roadrash, I have a lot of others. Got stabbed a couple times, shot at, slashed from other kids fighting for food. It was messy but I'm better now."

Ace bit his lip and said, "I'm so sorry that I didn't rescue you. You were only five…"

Luffy said there was nothing they could do about it now. "I'm not really upset about it much anymore. I mean, I'm mad that I was put there, but I've moved past it. It got me a home and a future. I'm going to become a sidekick for Hawks when I graduate." Ace smiled and nodded. "Will you tell me about your life in America? Besides messing up people's art."

Ace's body had relaxed, but it was clear he was still worried and stiff. "It was kind of lonely, to be honest. I had friends, but not great friends. I lived with our late grandma. She… tried to be kind. It was never enough, none of our family has been kind. I took hero studies in one of the more major high schools, the closest I could get to. I didn't do it to find you, that would take too long. To have to become a full hero would take too long. I wanted to look for you as soon as I could.

"Immediately after graduation, grandma died. Since I was supposedly the only grandchild left, I got a large amount of inheritance, which was what I used to move here and get a not-horrible apartment. I haven't spoken to our parents in four years, and I won't be talking to them ever again." Ace was clearly still extremely angry and upset over the whole thing, which Luffy had long since moved on from.

He was glad Ace didn't see him how he had been, hating everything and everyone. While they were talking, his phone buzzed and he briefly looked at it to see if it was Hawks, but it was Todoroki. He was happy, they hadn't spoken for a couple days. It felt like he was angry, which he really hoped was not the case.

But he put it back in his pocket to answer later. He and Ace talked a bit more, Ace showing Luffy his power, which was what he said it was. Powerful telekinesis. He showed him how far the range was by gently moving a car way down the street that's car alarm started going off. So, Ace could be powerful, too. He wondered why he wasn't abandoned for being powerful.

And he couldn't help it, he asked why their parents had abandoned their youngest. Ace looked heartbroken and said, "When you manifested both of their powers and not one. Then you manifested our neighbor's power. They waited for a year, to see if it would just go away. I honestly blocked out most of that time, but I know it was because of your quirk." He hissed that he would never forgive them even if they got on their knees and apologized profusely. And Luffy wouldn't either.

Because of their actions, he'd lost a relationship he felt he could have had with Ace. They could have been brothers, but now they were strangers, one more invested in making things work than the other. But, he seemed sincere, and Luffy could spot bullshit a mile away. Ace genuinely seemed to really want to get to know Luffy and have any sort of relationship.

They spoke for almost another hour before Ace said he should get back to work, he didn't want to underperform his first week on the job. Luffy nodded, and Ace tried to hug before pulling back and putting out his hand. "Talk to you again?" he asked, voice a bit high in nerves of Luffy's response.

"Yeah. Good luck with Endeavor, he's not an easy guy to get along with," Luffy replied, and Ace nodded, going to get his car and drive away, giving Luffy a genuine smile. He saw Ace give a happy grin in the mirror and he drove away. Luffy gave a small smile, actually hoping something would come of this.

He threw his drink away and flew off to his favorite spot and message Todoroki back.

_Hey._

_What's up?_

_How are things going?_

_Strange. My biological brother found me and wants to have a relationship. School is fine._

_Whoa, really? What do you think about it?_

_Tbh, he seems really sincere. He's very upset about losing me. Apparently he was the one who got Hawks to come to that area. He was waiting for me at the shelter, but I never went to the shelter, I went with Hawks. My biological family was terrible. Are terrible._

_I hope it works out for you. Really._

_Me, too. Apparently he's working at Endeavor's agency. His name is Ace, tall with black hair and freckles. I hope things work out. It would be nice to have someone else to be close to. I'm sorry I didn't tell you when it happened, I've been distracted._

_Out of sight out of mind?_

_...Yeah. I'm sorry. How are things going for you?_

_Okay. I'm not really connecting with anyone, tbh. Making friends is difficult._

_I'm sorry. I wish it hadn't come to this. Shiketsu is good and all, and I think I could make friends with my classmates, but still. It's a lot further away and the campus is smaller. And there are three Bakugo's here. All assholes, only they're not angry, just rude and think they're the best. Even though I've beaten them in each exercise so far._

_It's not your fault you have a pain in the ass quirk. I feel bad for you, too. But at least you didn't get caught up with the League of Villains, right?_

It was weird with Todoroki being comforting. Nice, but a bit weird. He wondered why. But Luffy replied that he was glad he didn't get in that mess, not that it lasted very long. It was just too bad they weren't caught. Well, the majority of those who attacked were caught, but the main instigators didn't. Would two people be a "league"?

_How are the goggles working? Have you stored any more quirks?_

_No, I keep them on at all times when I'm not home. They're working great, I'm really happy with them. I'm glad my weird idea actually was possible. The perks of living with a pro-hero I guess lol._

_I guess so. It really is lucky they worked. I'm happy you're safer like this._

_Me, too. I wouldn't be able to go to school if I need more surgery that took so long._

He and Todoroki talked for a while more before he had to go, and Luffy flew back home and onto the roof, relaxing on his backyard furniture under the gazebo tent. They'd gotten this stuff for Luffy when he was eleven and felt like he wanted a special place. Hawks had bought him this stuff without him knowing. Then he told Luffy all of it was on sale from a closing business.

Luffy had done research, and like always, Hawks hadn't been lying and it did all come from a closing company.

He texted Hawks when he was back in case he was worried if anything had gone wrong with Ace. He hoped things would go smoothly with Ace. And there would be no bumps in the road. He wasn't as invested, but wasn't against being friends with him. As long as he didn't try to change Luffy's life or want them to live together.

* * *

**Ace doesn't have fire in this one because he's working for Endeavor, and having fire with a character who already has it would be boring. In all of my other crossovers, Ace has fire though.**


	11. Determination

**Pixels674: Ace is one of my fav characters, too. One of the characters with the most development throughout his life! My baby, I will never let you die in my fics! Well, except one... and no Sabo in this one. Just big brother Ace.**

* * *

"How is it going, Luffy?" Dr. Ito asked with a smile. He was going in for a check up since it had been a month since Luffy left. Hawks was there, but Luffy had said he could go on his own. Hawks claimed he was too invested in this situation to sit it out.

"Good. The glasses are working well," Luffy replied, sitting on the bed. He quickly had his neck checked and scanned, and there were no new nerves and none were swollen or looked to be in bad shape. Just to be safe, she gave him another dose of quirk suppressants.

Nobody ever overused them since they were uncomfortable for most and made people unable to use their quirks well. Nobody would get addicted to them. The check up had some more questions but went by relatively quickly. Everything was looking good. Afterwards, Luffy said he had to go grocery shopping for that night's dinner.

Hawks gave him some money and Luffy said he'd be back in a little bit. It was a day off for Hawks, Sunday. They planned important events for Sundays as much as they could. He went to the store and got the groceries, stuffing many of them into his backpack that he'd brought to get food and flew home. It started to rain on his way, which was annoying. But, the backpack didn't get too wet that it got to the groceries.

When he got home, the window was closed until Luffy latched onto the edge and knocked on it for Hawks to open, since it was raining. Luffy walked in and went to the bathroom to dry himself with a towel. Then he put the groceries in the fridge, which was organized perfectly, and then went to the couch and flopped down on the recliner. "Did you talk to Ace today?"

Luffy nodded. "He said working with Endeavor is hard. But he was promoted already from messenger and general worker to sidekick. His power is really strong. I guess both of us have strong quirks but he just doesn't have the crappy health problems. I do wonder why I don't have his power if I was around him when I was four and five," Luffy said, something he'd been thinking about since the beginning.

Hawks said he had no idea, but that it was a good question. "Do you know what your parents' quirks were? Has he said?" Luffy replied that their mother could bring in and repel small objects and their father could secrete glue. "So, nothing compared to your and Ace's quirks." Luffy nodded.

"I don't even have those two powers. I don't know why, but I'm glad. I'm not tainted by them like that," Luffy replied honestly. Once it was getting late, Luffy said he was going to bed early, tired. Hawks told him goodnight and Luffy went to bed.

-x-

"So, you need these glasses at all times?" Sanji asked when they were changing into their hero costumes and Luffy switched his glasses for the costume face shield he used when flying as well, even when he wasn't in his full costume. He nodded, saying he needed them to function correctly. They thought he meant vision, of course not knowing it was for something completely different.

They went out to Rayleigh to do endurance training. Luffy's was a lot different for his wings. The others would be running fifty laps, many would die by the end, while Luffy was running with his wings completely spread so there was much more resistance, making his the hardest. He wouldn't lie, the wings made it much harder to run, though he was still doing better than the girls.

He wasn't in competition with anyone, just wanted to do his best. When he got to the 46th lap, he started going all out. Ichiji was the one he was neck and neck with, but he won by one second. Luffy stretched out his now stiff wings, flapping them a few times, and made the dirt track make little plumes of dirt from the gusts from his wings.

Luffy did some stretching for his arms and legs before going to the grass area and sitting to drink some water. He wasn't bothered by being in second place, truly. Being top of the class was not his main objective, he wanted to do good in school other than the academic part, which he was nearly tied with Nami. They fluctuated from first and second place each time something was turned in and one was graded before the other.

"For once you lost," Ichiji bragged.

"Yup," Luffy replied simply, taking another drink of water and wiped his forehead. He adjusted his face shield a little bit and then laid down on his back, wings relaxed. Ichiji seemed bothered that Luffy honestly didn't seem to be upset about coming in second place. "I really don't care about my placement in any competitions. I'm doing what I can to be a good hero. I don't need to be first at a race to do that," he added and then stood up to ask if they could leave once finished with the race.

Rayleigh nodded, praising both of them for their work. Luffy knew his wings would be stiff and would need stretching before flying again. He walked to the changing room with Ichiji following a ways back. He got changed, switched his glasses and put his face shield in its case in his backpack and went back to class to wait for the others to wait.

He put his feet on his desk and brought out his book, one that he'd found online about bird species, living ones and those extinct for millions of years. It was interesting, and he'd bookmarked the part with Argentavis, still the one he claimed his powers were of.

Zoro came in next, followed by the other two Jis. He sat next to Luffy and napped, unsurprisingly. When the day was over, Luffy went to a vending machine and got a candy bar before going back outside and putting his face shield on. Only they were snatched from his face, and he immediately closed his eyes.

"Give it back," he said in a dangerous, angry voice.

"Are you blind without them?" Niji asked. He wouldn't play their game, and used his super senses, the smell and sound to stomp to him, eyes still closed. "Now," he commanded. When he didn't get it back, and punched Niji in the gut hard enough for him to drop it. He grunted. Luffy caught it before it hit the ground and put them back on.

"You even _think_ of taking these again, I will report you to the school and it won't be good for you. Any of you. You've been warned, fucking pricks," Luffy snarled and flew away, fuming. He was so fucking angry. It could have been bad if he hadn't gotten them back. He could thank that one of the quirks taken had not been that super sense one.

He beat his wings faster, and made his way back home, slamming the window shut being him hard enough for it to rattle but not break. He sat on the couch and put his face in his hands, face shield on the coffee table, trying to take calming breaths. Hawks would be pissed when he was told about this.

The glasses were on his medical record for the school as absolutely necessary for quirk management. His teachers all knew that. Man, if he had lost control there, he hoped it would have electrocuted or burned the assholes. He was angry. Angrier than he'd been in a long time.

He messaged Todoroki, telling him about the incident, and how he'd rather be around Bakugo than these guys. And that he had punched the asshole in the gut hard. Not hard enough to spit up blood, but hard enough to knock the wind out of him.

Todoroki replied that he'd rather be around Bakugo than these people, too. He said hopefully the punch was satisfying. _I'd much rather have done more damage than that. Now it's personal. I will be the number one in everything we do. I will beat them with grades and skill._

 _Have fun with that. It sounds like you will._ Luffy sent back a thumbs up emoji. They spoke a little more about his time at UA That they were doing the sports festival soon. Luffy deflated, wanting to do that for a long time.

 _I wish I could take part…_ and with a sad face. Todoroki said he was sorry. Luffy thanked him. They talked for a bit longer before Luffy said he wanted a nap. They ended the conversation, Luffy feeling terrible. He laid face first on his bed, and reached behind him to touch the nape of his neck, nice and flat, not hurting at all.

He scowled and punched his pillow and then screamed into it. Why did he have this stupid quirk?! If he didn't have it, he would have been able to grow up with his brother, might not have been thrown out of the car, wouldn't have been in the nightmare slums for three years. Alone, hurt, scared, hopeless.

Then he couldn't go to the school he'd been so excited to go to. Should he have waited another year and then gone to U.A.? Maybe he could transfer next year and be in Todoroki's class, the other's class maybe. Sure, he liked his friends at Shiketsu. But he wasn't comfortable with any of them knowing anything about him that wasn't at face value.

They didn't know his history, the nightmare his quirk was. He had one person who did, and he couldn't go to school with him after being in the same class since third grade. Tears streamed down his face, thinking of how painful and scary it had been to be out of control. How much it hurt to have spikes rip his skin open and grow out of his back.

The time he spent in the hospital was lonely and boring. His quirk had given him nothing but trouble for most of his life. He gently pet his feathers, the only good thing to ever come from his quirk. He bunched his fists into his blankets before he finally relaxed his body, just letting himself cry into the pillow, knowing Hawks wouldn't be back for another few hours. He knew he was having a meeting with other pro-heroes about the League of Villains and Stain, the hero killer.

Luffy knew Hawks wouldn't be part of the hunt for them at the moment, but might in the future. Who knows? He actually took a nap, and when he woke up, he felt much better. Hawks was there already, but hadn't bothered Luffy. It was late, so he cooked a quick meal. "Someone took my glasses and wouldn't give them back, so I punched them," he said abruptly and bluntly.

Hawks frowned, and asked why they would do that. "It was one of the bullies. Before, I wasn't trying to beat them. I will now. I will beat them in everything at every time. And I told them if they did it again, I'd report them to the school."

The pro-hero sighed, irate with the three at his class. "Do you think UA would accept me back if I crammed? I've been training at Shiketsu, maybe I could transfer." Hawks said there was no reason to not try.

"What about your friends there? Didn't you make some?" Luffy nodded, but said he'd rather be with Todoroki, who knew everything. Had so many memories with him, knew about his quirk and history.

He couldn't help but tear up, surprising Hawks. "What's wrong?" he asked frantically.

"This quirk has ruined my life in so many ways. I just want one, I want to be normal. I don't want to worry about going out of control if I don't have my damn glasses. If I didn't have this quirk, I might have been able to be with Ace. He loves me. I don't even know him," Luffy confessed, trying to keep his voice strong. "I wouldn't have been on the streets, I wouldn't still be insecure about being thrown back there, even after 7 years. I would have been able to go to the school I wanted to go to." He choked up and said he just wanted to be like everyone else.

Hawks stood up and sat next to him, putting his arm around Luffy's shoulders. "We can't change the past. You can be brothers with Ace, no matter that you don't know him well. He clearly has good intentions and will work hard to have a positive relationship with you. I'm never sending you back to that hell hole. I'll say it as many times as I need to. And even if I did, you have another family. Now you have a safety net.

"I will never send you back, but now you know that if I ever did, you wouldn't be alone. And about U.A., you may not make it this school year, but you can transfer. There's nothing saying you have to stay in the same high school and can't change. And you'll be in the same grade as Todoroki."

Luffy sniffled, knowing what Hawks was saying was right.

He went to bed, planning on flying straight to UA after his school was out. He knew his way around Japan well. Though, maybe not the more rural cities. And Hawks gave him his old smart watch so he could easily use it while flying instead of his phone to use GPS.

The next day, the Three Jis were pissy with him. He ignored them, and was in a very bad mood. And when they were doing the basic hero training, he whooped their asses with their battle against Yonji. He held nothing back, using his super strength to put him out of commission while still following the rules.

He looked at Ichiji and Niji. "Who's next?" he growled. Niji was next, since they could choose who to fight. Luffy kicked his ass as well, slamming him in the ribs to the side, throwing him out of the ring and onto his back. Ichiji was furious, but not having cold anger like Luffy did. Furious and messy while Luffy was cold and calculating, slamming his foot into the back of his knee, knocking him down and grabbing him by the scruff of the shirt and flinging him out of the ring.

For the next rounds, he wasn't nearly as brutal. But kicking their asses was very nice. He glared at them, and was no longer even trying to be peaceful. They stole his glasses, and that was unforgivable. They knew they were a necessity, they'd been in the room when he talked to Sanji about it.

After class was over, he stuffed everything into his backpack and flew to UA

-x-

"Is there any chance that I can transfer back here? My health problems are over and done with. I just… I really want to come back. Shiketsu is fine, but I've wanted to go to UA for a while. And the unexpected problem with my quirk ruined that. I know it's late in the semester, but can I transfer back?" Luffy asked, eyes wide and sounding begging. He was in a meeting with Aizawa and Nezu.

Nezu looked at Luffy's transcripts from Shikestu (for the last three weeks) and from his previous years. Aizawa said he wasn't sure if Luffy could catch up quick enough. Luffy told them about when he was a kid he crammed three grades in a couple months. This was only a couple months worth of catching up.

The principal told Aizawa to give Luffy all the work they'd done so far that semester. "It's worth giving a chance. It's clear that Luffy could not control the health problems, and it might be in the wrong to deny you time back. It's a rigorous course load, but we are still only in the first half of the first semester. I am sure you can catch up if you work hard. We will give you tests every week to make sure you are keeping up. For now, I think you should continue your work at Shiketsu as well as catching up here."

Aizawa said that the class was very upset when they heard that Luffy could no longer attend. "I think everyone would be glad to have you back." Luffy pressed his lips together and then bowed, thanking them profusely.

"I promise I'll catch up and won't be a burden."

Aizawa said that he probably wouldn't be able to take part in the sports festival this year. Luffy was sad about that, but had expected it. "I have two more tries. Once a year, right?" They nodded.

Luffy followed Aizawa to the staff room where he gathered the teachers in there and said that Luffy was going to attempt to catch up and return to UA They were all surprised but did give him all of the work he missed. A lot, but he thanked them all profusely, bowing. "I'll see you soon, I swear on it. Thank you for giving me a second chance."

They smiled and said they looked forward to seeing him again.

The next two weeks went by extremely quickly. He finished all of his school work at Shiketsu there at lunch and after class. He rarely spoke to anyone else as he worked in the library. He did feel bad about choosing UA over his new friends, but he just didn't feel right here. He didn't know what it was, but he didn't feel right.

When he got home, he crammed everything from UA He quizzed himself, had Hawks quiz him, did extra work on the side, and was emailed the ongoing work so he didn't fall back more weeks. He crammed like he'd never done before, but remembered everything easily. He may have been doing the wrong thing, using Nezu's intelligence he'd seen already.

But it let him remember things even when he wasn't using it. Hawks wasn't upset that he rarely spent time with Luffy besides a quick dinner and then he'd go back to work. He just praised him and surprised him by buying a nice desk that went right next to his favorite spot by the living room window.

It helped him, and Hawks kept quiet while he worked if he was there. It was hard, and sometimes he got work with Shiketsu confused with UA But after the third week, he was caught up, acing all of the tests his teachers gave him online, which required a web camera to make sure he wasn't cheating. And he didn't.

He had the web camera pointing just low enough that they saw his hands working and not cheating. He slept less, but it didn't impact him. He spent time talking to Ace briefly, but had told him he would be less available to talk or visit because of his work. Ace understood and told him good luck.

When he took the final test, the midterm exam, and passed it with a high B, he was accepted back. He cried once he got the letter, and Hawks threw a surprise party which was actually a shock, since he gave Luffy a piece of paper as a gift. He was offering to let me get a cat. It was really nice, Luffy had always wanted a pet but didn't want to burden Hawks with it.

But a cat would be less work than a dog. He was so happy. But he had to wait until things were more stable with his school work.

The last day he was at Shiketsu, he finally told his friends that he was transferring back to UA He said that was why he'd been so distant and busy, he had to make up all of the months he'd missed. Surprisingly, they supported his decision, and didn't hate him for it. They knew his first pick had been U.A., and how it had upset him to not go there.

They were happy for him, and it made the move a lot easier. On his last day, he turned to the Three Jis. "I guess you'll never have the chance to beat me, huh?" he asked with a smug look before saluting them sarcastically and flying back home.

It would be a surprise when he returned on Monday to U.A., as he hadn't told anyone. He still talked to Todoroki after moving, and Kirishima and Midoriya texted him sometimes, often asking how he was doing. He told them many times that he was no longer hospitalized, but they were still concerned.

They hadn't seen him after that. He was glad that they hadn't forgotten him. He was so cheerful that weekend that Hawks commented on how weird it was to see him this happy. But he wasn't annoyed by it, of course, and was just teasing. He was clearly happy that Luffy was happy. He even had a phone call with Ace, which he never did. Ace was very happy over the phone, and Luffy had opened up about his hatred of his quirk because it took him away from ever having a little brother big-brother relationship.

It had made Ace choke up a bit, but with a smile in his voice. Overall, it was a great weekend.


	12. Back At Last

**SooE: Lol I took advantage of giving Luffy a brain that isn't ADHD.**

**Pixels674: I did my best to make Ace seem like someone desperate to fix a mistake. He's a good big brother, he'll do his best to be one. <3 **

**MrBimzan: <3 *velociraptor* **

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**A very unintentional very short chapter! Enjoy~**

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On Monday, he was nervous, but confidently walked back into the classroom and sat down, shocking everyone before they all got up and ran to him. "I'm back. I crammed three months worth of work into two weeks, but I did it. I'm back," he said with a grin. Nobody had forgotten him, they were all happy to see him.

"I do feel bad that I haven't been here to get to know everyone more, and I couldn't help out with the USJ attack. It kind of makes me feel a bit like an outsider." The whole time, Todoroki had an uncharacteristic smile that Luffy returned with a wink, having kept this a secret just to see that happy and surprised face.

"We have time to get to know each other more!" Kirishima said loudly. Uraraka gave him a hug and Midoriya was really happy. Their reactions made him so happy and felt so welcomed. It was wonderful. He didn't even care when he no longer had a cheery teacher.

Aizawa said a brief welcome to Luffy, and had said that he was wrong, and that he would be able to take part in the sports festival. They all cheered, getting a bored reprimand from the teacher, telling them to be quiet.

Luffy easily fell into step, and it felt like he hadn't left. The teachers were all glad to have him back, and despite missing three months, he answered the questions on the books they were reading and the topics they were working on. Everyone could tell he had truly crammed and hadn't just claimed that or anything of the sort.

At lunch, they expressed disbelief that he'd been able to do it all in two weeks. Todoroki told them Luffy had crammed kindergarten to third grade when he was little. "A few months are nothing for him as a teenager compared to years as an eight year old."

"You're talking more," Luffy said happily. Todoroki looked away in concealed embarrassment. "I'm really happy to be back. And I'm happy I wasn't forgotten about or anything." The others nodded, saying he was kind of hard to forget, only if he'd been at the class for a week. He was asked about the glasses since he hadn't had them before.

He answered honestly. "These keep my quirk in check. It's the only reason I was able to leave the hospital safely. They discharged me since I got all depressed and unhealthy." He said he couldn't really explain how the glasses worked, but just to not try and take them off. "There were three assholes at Shiketsu, oh my god. They were 100 times worse than what I'd seen of Bakugo. They were rich and snobby and jealous. One of them took my glasses and wouldn't give them back, so I punched him and then flew off.

"At the end, the last thing I said to them was kind of immature," he laughed. "I told them they would never be able to defeat me since I was moving schools."

Kirishima said it wasn't that immature, if they had been assholes to him. "I'm happy you get to be in the sports festival. It'll be epic." Luffy said he wanted to have fun, even if he didn't get a high score.

He added, "I also feel like I'd be a jerk to get a high place even though I haven't been going here for the last three months." Midoriya said he was a UA student before and only switched because it was necessary. He hadn't left and just changed his mind to come back. "That's true. I'm just so happy I could come back. They were really understanding about it, too. And now that I know I can cram, if I ever have health problems again, it won't be so stressful. But hopefully that doesn't happen."

The others nodded, and asked what it was like to be in a quirk facility. "Better than a hospital. It was nice inside, trying to make it more comfortable and cozy. Still wasn't home, but it wasn't too bad. There were two wards. One for the very dangerous ones, and one for those that weren't so deadly. The extreme ward was often for people who gave off harmful substances. Like gasses. The doctors had to go in there with hazmat suits, so I doubt it was as nice there as in my ward. There were like, 12 people there including me."

"I always pictured them like mental facilities," Iida said. Luffy shook his head, and said that it could have been much worse. "Can I ask what about UA you wanted to come back to?" the taller student asked, voice cautious.

Luffy replied, "I'd always wanted to go to UA The campus is huge! So much room to fly. And even though Aizawa is grumpy and all, the class felt more… cozy, I guess? So I missed everyone even if I barely knew you. And I missed Todoroki a lot. We've been in the same class since third grade. I didn't want that to change now," he said honestly, his voice more quiet at the end.

"I missed you, too," he said, a rare show of emotion from him. Luffy smiled and nodded. "I bet Bakugo isn't happy you're back." Luffy laughed and said he'd move on from his anger at Bakugo targeting his wings a while ago.

"So, something crazy happened while I was gone. Apparently, I've had an older brother this whole time, and he just found me. He's 3 years older, and was in America and then moved here as soon as he turned 18 to find me."

Uraraka said it sounded like a book or movie premise. "Why didn't you know him?" Luffy said he'd gone missing as a child and didn't remember any of his family.

"Actually… I don't think anyone here will make fun of me for this. I want to gain everyone's trust and be closer, so I'll give you the synopsis. Some of it. I was five when my family threw me out of a moving car. After that, I lived by myself in the slums until Hawks came to the area, and saw me walking around with a bunch of nails in me. He forcibly took me to the hospital and then offered to take me home with him. That's how we met." Then he laughed and said, "He was very patient, the first thing I'd said to him was to fuck off."

The table was silent, looking horrified. "Don't worry, it's been 7 years since then. I'm fine. Still a bit insecure about some things, but I'm happy now, thanks to Hawks."

Iida said, "What a hero! I am in awe!" Uraraka was nodding and Kirishima called Hawks a real man.

"Is that all the scars you have? I saw some on your back and the dots everywhere." Luffy replied the scars they'd probably seen were from the road rash and nails. She asked why he was thrown out.

"That's more personal, so I don't want to talk about that part." Todoroki was sending him an unexpected look. Almost like he was proud of Luffy telling someone else his story. He wasn't upset at all that he was now not the only one who knew. Well, he was the only one who knew what his quirk really was. The one he shared so many memories with. His first friend _ever._

Once lunch was over, they went to the hero basics training. Luffy didn't compare anything from Shiketsu to UA He wasn't going back. There was no point in thinking about it. All Might was happy to see him again. "Young Luffy! It is good to have you back, I am glad your health problems have been resolved." Luffy nodded, and said it was thanks to the doctors and his new glasses. The ones he had with his costume wrapped around the back on his head. The earphones went over and clipped on, but he didn't wear them at school and only when he was flying.

"Doctors are indeed important! Everyone now knows to not break young Luffy's glasses."

"Yes, sir!"

"Today we will work on stealth missions. Similar to our first exercise, but instead of fighting, you must go through the buildings. If you make a certain amount of noise, you'll be disqualified and lose!" This sounded fun. He was paired with Tsu. They were using the very large buildings, and were making their way to the top floor, only the stairs were blocked.

Bakugo was disqualified and dragged down Sero as well, who wasn't happy. Bakugo had swore pretty loudly when he stubbed his boot against the wall. Midoriya and Iida went well together and made it to the top floor. Next was Luffy and Tsu.

They made their way through the building slowly, and looked to the elevator to see it had fallen, meaning directly climbing up would work. He pointed to the elevator and she looked before nodding. She easily climbed up the side of the shaft and Luffy climbed up the cable wire silently. She helped him out silently and they creeped their way to the objective.

It was surrounded by rocks, but Tsu easily jumped past all of them, Luffy staying absolutely still. They passed! He gave a fist bump to Tsu. "It's good to have you back, Luffy," she said simply. Luffy said he was happy to be back as well.

It was one of the best days he'd had in weeks. When he flew back home he flopped onto the couch with a grin, looking up at the ceiling lights. He was so happy, and messaged Ace about it. He was happy to be texted by Luffy. Hawks was right, Luffy could have a brother even if they only just met each other and Luffy hadn't known Ace even existed.


	13. Sports Festival

**Anime_Moon00: Thank you! Glad to have you back <3 Yeah, I really flip flop with content. I like giving people whiplash about the feels of one chapter and the next lol. I'm sorry your phone sucks, been there, too. Ace is the best big brother, doing his absolute best to have a relationship with Luffy. Man, the later chapters are going to crush your soul lol. I put him through so much emotional and physical pain it was amazing to write. After all, we all know I love breaking my version of the characters into pieces. **

**MrBizman: (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧**

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The next day was the sports festival. Luffy had no time to prepare or practice. And he wanted to look good, even if he wasn't the best. But he was strong even if he hadn't practiced for it specifically. And there was a lot of endurance training at Shiketsu. He would use that.

He asked Ace to watch the sports festival if he did well. _I promise I will. I have to go, break is over._

_Okay!_

They were told that their performance with the sports festival would show pro-heroes who they were and what they were made of and then would offer internships. Luffy knew who he wanted to intern under. He had been sent a synopsis of what would happen at the sports festival in case he did make it and nobody had told him what it was all about.

He wanted to intern under Endeavor. Hawks was inspired by him, Ace worked with him and he was Todoroki's dad. And he was powerful. He just didn't know if he'd be offered a spot since Endeavor had never liked him being able to keep up with Todoroki. But he hadn't seen him in years. So he was just unsure.

They were all very excited the next day, and changed their clothes immediately. Luffy had his costume face shield on for extra support. He was nervous about this, seeing so many people with quirks. He knew the glasses worked, but if they fell off, it would be the worst case scenario.

The students were nervous, but buzzed. They were wearing their gym clothes and not their costumes this time. All of them were in their classes' break room, sitting nervously, being in front of millions on TV and thousands in person. Todoroki was grumpy over something, and Luffy had a feeling he was thinking of Endeavor. He had not once used his fire ability, wanting to spite him.

He suddenly challenged Midoriya, since he seemed special to All Might. Luffy hadn't been there to see this, but took Todoroki's word. He wasn't a liar. Then Midoriya replied that he'd surpass Todoroki. Luffy didn't interfere, didn't ask if Todoroki was okay. When they were told to come out, Luffy put a hand on Todoroki's shoulder with a smile, a show of support. Todokori nodded.

Class A and B came out at the same time, and Luffy sensed some animosity. Once they all gathered, the crowd cheered. Luffy saw just how many people were there, and saw enough with mutant quirks that they would overload him. Nothing happened and he relaxed substantially. "Here they are, the first years! Let's hear some cheer!" Present Mic said, the commentator. The crowd did just that.

Luffy was shocked when he was asked to speak since he was the highest scorer in the entrance exam. "Here he is! Out on medical leave but finally back, it's Luffy! He was the highest scorer in recent UA history on the practical entrance exam!" Luffy felt uncomfortable, but took a deep breath and went to the microphone. He was honest, like Hawks was, but charming.

"I don't what to say other than for everyone to do their best and have fun, even if your best right now isn't enough to take the top spot," he said simply, giving his classmates a thumbs up, making eye contact with class B as well. The crowd cheered, and Luffy walked back off the stage.

"My god, that was stressful," Luffy said honestly, earning some laughter from his friends around him. Iida said it was a good speech nonetheless. Midnight was dramatic about this whole thing, saying they'd be exhausted and having hell with this. Luffy's speech was much different, telling everybody to have fun. Hmm.

The first activity was an obstacle course, and that they could use their powers however they wanted. Luffy was smart and was one of the first to get in the entrance area. When the whistle was blown, Luffy immediately flew over the first obstacle, the robots from the entrance exam. Luffy would leave those to slow down the others. He was going as fast as he could when he came across the second obstacle.

He flew across while dive bombing all of the first cliff jumps, dooming people who couldn't reach. The ropes also were severed. Then he flew on, as fast as possible. Present Mic commented that Luffy was going too fast for the camera to keep track of. Luffy grinned at this, and the entire obstacle course was cleared for him in three minutes, most of the time taken up by dooming the others.

He flew through the short hall and landed easily on the grass in the stadium again, getting cheers. "And Luffy comes out first! It's not surprising since he's close with the number three hero, Hawks!" Well, everyone already knew. He was in the news about it and his classmates knew as well. It was only a surprise to the audience who hadn't known that fact.

Luffy gave a simple wave and then turned to the large TV screen and watched what the others were doing. Todoroki and Bakugo were in the lead, neck and neck, having easily made it across what Luffy had messed up. Many were unable to cross with the ropes, but they did make it using their quirks in a smart way.

Modirya was a surprise when he used smarts instead of his quirk, coming up close to Todoroki and Bakugo, blowing up the mines beneath them so he was in front. He crash landed and flipped a few times, which looked painful, and actually made second place. Todoroki was third and Bakugo fourth. Bakugo didn't look angry at Luffy, but Midoriya. Luffy hadn't done anything to him personally, but Midoriya had bypassed him by strategy and took second place.

The winged teen knew that his classmates were not surprised with Luffy's speed, but had all aimed to be after him. Nobody could keep up with his speed, even if he had run the whole way. But why use all your energy in the first lap?

Once everybody was out and on the field again, Midnight explained the next activity. A cavalry battle. And the points were based on the order of who came in first. Luffy's points were highest, at 10 million. The ones who placed after him steadily were lower score amounts. Luffy was unfazed, and saw that nobody was looking at him like they wanted to get his points. But why? Were they afraid? That was no fun.

He was asked to group with others, and he ended up with Hagakure, Jiro and Sato. He didn't know them well, or their quirks. "I'll be front if you guys want. My wings are heavier and would be hard to be on top." They were fine with that. Jiro and Sato were the back horses with Hakagure on top. "I can go fast, but I don't know if you guys can't keep up. Should I go at a normal pace?"

Luffy sounded so easy going. He was proud that he felt similar to how Hawks was. Easy going but still with a smile. Jiro and Sato asked for him to not go too fast. "I can put my wings up to guard Hagakure on both sides."

"Yeah! We already have so many points we'd pass even if we got no more headbands," Hagakure said happily. Luffy said he'd do his best. They got into position, Luffy in the front, his wings behind him and unfurled to be on either side of Hagakure, pretty much shielding her from anyone making any contact. Luffy told her to wear her headband backwards so nobody could get it from the back easily.

She did that, and the match started. Their strategy was to stay safe, Luffy leading them to the best places to stay out of the way. They kept Hagakure safe. Whenever someone came over, Luffy would deter them with a strong flap of one of his wings. Then one group came from the front, and reached down to Luffy, who dodged by and had his wing easily touched.

Then the guy started screaming and fell to the ground.

"What the hell?!" Luffy and his group shouted. The game was paused as the kid writhed on the ground. The three he was with were all shocked, no longer in formation. "What's wrong with him?" Luffy asked in worry. He was still focused on keeping everyone away with his wings. Midnight called the game to pause, the clock paused at six minutes left.

"He copied your quirk!" one of them said, Midnight trying to get the guy to stop screaming. "What is your quirk?!"

Luffy said his quirk was hard on his own body. It wasn't surprising that a body not adjusted to all of Luffy's quirks would be painful. After ten minutes, he was back and up again, able to get back in position and far from Luffy, his looking at him in almost fear. "W-Well, the game is no longer paused. Continue!" and the battle resumed.

They easily kept their 10,000,390 points, Luffy's wings doing most of the work. Hopefully he could show his strength in the next round, as long as they kept their headband, he would advance. And they had the highest points left, not losing their headband or even coming close to losing it.

Hagakure got off and they got out of formation, giving high fives. Jiro asked, "Is your quirk really that painful on your body?"

Luffy said that it was hard before he got used to it. So for the other guy to get it suddenly, it wasn't surprising that it was painful. The final contestant made it, the top five teams. Luffy's, Midoriya's, Bakugo's, Todoroki's and one from class 1-B. So, 1-A dominated the festival so far.

Midnight announced the winners, and that the next activity would be one on one battles. Luffy was excited, hoping he wouldn't be against Todoroki. But if they both were finalists, they'd fight regardless. There was a break before the fights would begin. Jiro and Hakakure didn't look happy with this, seeing everyone they'd be against.

"Are you guys going to do it?" he wondered. "You can probably drop out," he added. Jiro said she would try, even if she got paired with someone more powerful. Hagakure said so too, and put her shirt back on. They were matched up right after the break, where Luffy had flown off to get a sip of water and then back, landing with his classmates.

Todoroki asked if he had been bored with that group. "It was fine. We kept the points, and I was able to show my wings were strong enough to keep others away. But that guy copying my quirk was unexpected. I didn't know it would be so hard on someone else's body."

Midoriya was looking at him strangely. "So if your quirk was given to someone else, it would hurt their body?" Luffy said probably, based on what had happened. At least there seemed to be no longer term damage. "That's true. None of his bones broke."

Luffy was against one of the girls from class 1-B on the first round. The one with vine hair. He was the first one to fight. So after the short break, he went down to the stage, looking interested in what her power was. He hadn't seen it yet. He'd let her attack first.

When the match started, she didn't attack, so he sent a huge burst of air at her. She created a wall of vines from her hair, stumbling forward only a bit. Well, wind wouldn't work, he'd have to use more force. He didn't know how strong the vine wall was, but he kicked at him hard enough to rip right through the vine wall and send her flying out of bounds.

He saw her heading straight towards the wall face first, and realized he'd kicked too hard, flying there immediately to catch her before she slammed into the wall. "I'm sorry, I kicked way too hard," he said sincerely.

She coughed a few times and rubbed her back. "Thank you for stopping me from colliding with the wall," she said, and walked off the stage, looking like she was hurting.

"And the winner shows compassion! What a guy! But man, what is his quirk?!" Present Mic asked loudly. Aizawa said he hadn't seen him work enough to really get a feel for what his quirk was, but that he was strong. He didn't talk about the regenerative power. Luffy wanted that to be a surprise honestly. If anyone hurt him enough for it to cause him damage.

He headed back to the stands, flying up. Uraraka said it was really nice of him to save her. "If she hit her head hard enough, she could have died or gotten brain damage. I didn't want that to happen, even if I don't know her," he replied. The others nodded, understanding why he'd done it.

The next match was a weird one. Midorya nearly walked off the stage at the start, but then broke his fingers, and then pushed the enemy out of bounds. It was boring. But he won against someone from the other class like Luffy had. 1-A was looking to be in a good position so far.

Most of the following fights ended in minutes, and were pretty forgettable besides Uraraka and Bakugo's. Todoroki got Jiro out in a second, sending a huge amount of sharp ice in their direction, all of them leaning back far in their seats. "Jeez, what is he thinking?" Luffy asked, feeling the ice a couple inches from his face.

But then he melted it and there was nothing left to show it had happened.

Then the quarter-final rounds had Luffy against Iida. They were after Todoroki and Midoriya's battle, which was honestly a nightmare to watch as Midoriya's only attack was sending blasts of air by flicking his fingers, even though all of them were broken by the end. It made him cringe for every finger he used or reused. But it was more flashy than any of the other battles were.

Todoroki won, the stage destroyed, and with Midoriya out of bounds and heavily injured, all of his fingers and one arm broken. The others were wincing the whole time, and Kirishima asked what he was thinking. "I guess he really wanted to look strong? But, looking like he has no control over his quirk isn't the best, right?" Luffy asked. The others agreed, nobody liking the outcome of it. "It would have been an awesome match if I wasn't cringing the whole time."

"I know, right?!" Kirishima asked. "But man, he did his best to win!" Jiro asked how he could have even fought the next round if he was broken like that. "Good point."

Luffy was against Iida next, and both walked down the stairs, going on either side of the now repaired stage. Iida was fast, but already knew Luffy was faster. Iida was quick to turn when Luffy had moved to a new area out of the way. He didn't want to ruin Iida's chances to get someone to request him, so he let him show off before Luffy pulled his wings back and then threw them forward with his super strength, throwing Iida off the stage and onto the grass.

"And he's out by a burst of air from his wings!" Luffy walked to Iida and shook his hand. Neither of them were hurt, so they returned to the stands. Again, the next two rounds were over in a second, leaving Bakuko and Tokoyami. Todoroki, Luffy, Bakugo and Tokoyami were going to the next rounds.

Luffy was against Tokoyami first, with Todoroki and Bakugo next. The ice user hadn't returned yet, but Bakugo was looking excited and sadistic, looking forward to possibly beating Todoroki. Luffy and Tokoyami went to the stage. Luffy knew a little about the other's quirk, but learned what it was pretty quickly. He observed the first attack, Dark Shadow coming out and reaching him.

Luffy got in the air and easily evaded, dive bombing and pushing Tokoyami out of the ring. But Dark Shadow did get a gash on Luffy's arm that bled before healing over quickly. He wiped the blood off with one hand and then rubbed it on his shorts.

"You got a good attack in, that hurt," Luffy joked as Present Mic freaked out over the regenerative power. Tokoyami said it was a fast match, but he was glad he got one attack in, even if it healed over. They shook hands and then walked back up the bleachers to their spots. Bakugo was glaring at him. Luffy liked Bakugo's attitude much more than the Three Jis.

The bomb user was entertaining to get angry, not completely annoying. Todoroki and Bakugo were against each other next. The moment Todorkoi walked out on stage, Luffy knew something had happened since his friend was almost droopy. And he was distracted. With that demeanor, Luffy was unsurprised that he lost by being knocked out of the ring. And he didn't look upset about it at all.

So, Luffy vs Bakugo. He could only see himself getting out by being thrown out of the ring. He knew it could happen, but at least he made it to second place, right? He flew to the stage, meeting a very unsatisfied Bakugo since Todoroki hadn't been himself or gone all out like usual. Luffy had to talk to him after the match.

Bakugo attacked first, mercilessly sending a huge plume of fire at Luffy, who stomped his feet into the stage so it didn't move him back. Once the fire dissipated, Luffy was badly burned, but all of the burns healed over, and the damage to his wings were repaired as well. New feathers growing in place over those burnt away. His shirt was full of holes now, though.

He let a huge gust of wind at Bakugo, who only didn't fly out of the ring back through his hands behind him and letting off explosions to keep him from flying too far. Luffy ran forward, slamming his foot into Bakugo's gut hard enough to make him bend over in pain. Luffy followed up with a punch to the face, causing his nose to bleed and then grab on to his arm, throwing him out of the ring and into the wall.

"And he shows no mercy to Bakugo!" Bakugo was furious, wiping his blood nose.

"You knocked me out of the ring, you prick!" Luffy replied that that was a way to get him out. "Your power is too fucking over powered," he snapped.

"Sometimes," Luffy said. "But you got second place, so that's good for you." He didn't say it rudely, just very calmly. When the stands were made for the first, second and third winners, Luffy jumped to the top spot, Bakugo on the left and Todoroki on the right. All Might gave them the medals, and Luffy thanked him for it. Bakugo took it and then burnt it. Mature, real mature. The ice user took his silently.

The crowd cheered for the winners, and afterwards, Luffy went straight to Todoroki. His glasses seemed to be fire proof as well, since the fire did nothing to them. He didn't even think of that happening, it would have been bad if they melted while he was in front of everyone.

"Are you okay?" Luffy asked. Todoroki nodded. "Why did you use the fire?" he wondered. He _never_ used his fire.

"Midoriya is nosy, but he broke through to me about using my fire. It's my fire, and I forgot about Endeavor when I used it," he said. Luffy had never tried to encourage Todorkoi to make up with his dad after everything he'd done while he was still a child. He could never give an abuser the benefit of the doubt.

Luffy put his hand on his shoulder. "I'm glad something broke through. Clearly Bakugo isn't happy how he beat you," he joked. Todoroki smiled and said he'd probably be pissed at both of them for a while. "I can't believe he burnt his medal. That's a bit much." Todoroki nodded in agreement. "Well, that was pretty fun. Hopefully I'll get picked at some agencies."

"You will."

He partly hesitated saying it, but Luffy confessed that he wanted to go to Endeavir's agency. Todoroki was shocked. Luffy grinned and said, "My brother is working there. I want to see him, and it would give me some skill I don't know about. I don't like him, but he could be useful."

Todoroki smiled and clarified that he wanted to see his brother. "Well, I would work, too, of course!" he replied, and laughed. "But yeah, I do want to see him."

His friend said he was glad things were working out for them, knowing it must be hard for both of them based on everything that had gone on long before. Then his friend surprised him. "I… think I'll go visit my mom. You're rekindling with your lost family, I should do mine. And I feel like I deserve to go to her now."

Luffy knew about what happened with his mom, and how she was in a hospital after that. Luffy smiled at him and said, "Looks like we're both growing in more ways than one."

"It's good to have you back." Luffy agreed that it definitely was.

-x-

That night, Hawks and Luffy were watching a rerun of the festival. Hawks was grinning the whole time, skipping forward to see Luffy's fights. He cringed when Luffy was badly burnt by Bakugo, but said he was so glad he could heal or he would have been horribly injured and his wings might not have grown back.

Luffy nodded, enjoying watching it, too. "I wish I fought tougher guys. Always winning… it isn't the most fun. I don't get any real challenges." Hawks pointed out that he'd only fought inexperienced kids. "I know, but still."

Luffy was in a very good mood. And then he talked to Ace about it, making the day even better.

The next day, they found out their offers to agencies. Most got at least one, but Midoriya got zero. Honestly, Luffy wasn't surprised. He'd destroyed his fingers while fighting, who would want to take on someone like that? Luffy, Todoroki and Bakugo had the highest amount. Luffy the most but only 89 more than Todoroki got and only 200 more than Bakugo.

He searched for Endeavor when he saw he was offered by Hawks. He took a photo of it and sent it as a text with a " _Really."_ And an emoji of putting your palm to your face.

Soon he got a " _jk"_ with a winky face. Luffy shook his head, and Uraraka asked what he was doing. He was reacting weirdly to his list. "Hawks offered, but as a joke," he said simply. He found who he was looking for, and was happy he got offered by Endeavor. "Todoroki, he offered. Is it okay if I go to his?"

"I'm choosing him as well. He's strong. I won't go as his son, but as a hero who wants to learn," his friend replied. It was cool, he'd be going with his best friend and brother. He actually doubted he'd see Ace at all. But it was worth a try.

He was startled, though, when they were abruptly told they would be picking their hero names. Luffy wasn't ready at all. He had no idea what to choose. He had originally thought to name himself "Argentavis", but that was a lie. And if it ever got out that he didn't have a bird quirk, then the name would be for nothing.

He wanted something personal to him. A name that was his own, not other heroes and random people he stole his quirks from. Something about him, being a person, unique. Not having to do with his powers, though. A name that was his own, his alone and would mean a lot to him.

Others were scribbling on their boards while Luffy's pen wasn't even uncapped. He could always just do his name, but he didn't really want to go that route. He still hadn't written anything when others started to do theirs, it had something to do with their appearance or quirk.

Luffy's appearance was nothing special. He looked normal. Well, besides his wings. Still, those wings weren't originally his quirk. He looked at his arms, seeing the scars. Those made him who he was, for better or worse. He had a few scars from his time with Hawks. Those were also what made him him. When Hawks was teaching him to cook, Luffy cut his hand badly. He remembered Hawks freaking out. Luffy had told him to "shut up and get a damn paper towel."

It was something they still joked about. If Luffy got hurt, even if he healed, Hawks would tell him to shut up and get a damn paper towel. He smiled at the memory. Not all of his scars were bad. They told the story of his life.

But he wasn't those scars, he was the product of them.

He couldn't come up with anything but his name. Not that having a hero name different would matter with someone with such recognizable wings.

For now it would just be "Luffy."

Well, they said these names were temporary. Maybe he'd come up with something better. He stood up and pursed his lips while holding his board up. Midnight asked if he was sure, just being his name. "Yeah. Or until I find something better."

It was probably temporary, but for now it was fine.


	14. The Hosu Incident

**MrBizman: ( ˙꒳˙ )**

* * *

Only a few days later, he and Todoroki were going to Endeavor's place. It would take a train ride from where Todoroki lived, so Luffy offered to pick him up on his way. Todoroki agreed, and Luffy went to pick him up, Hawks leaving him a "please don't make me look bad" note on the bedroom door. After all, Hawks admired Endeavor.

He left a note of a person sticking their tongue out with a hand making a "L" pose on the back of the paper. He left it on the front door, and then left through the window, closing it after him. He picked up Todoroki, who stoically did not seem afraid of the height at all, and they landed neatly in front of Endeavor's building, walking inside, both carrying their backpack with the contract and their hero costumes.

"I don't think I've ever actually held a conversation with him," Luffy said, really thinking about it. "I mean, he told me to go away a couple times, but that was it. I wonder why he offered it to me."

Todoroki said he might have seen how strong he was and put his petty feelings away. Luffy hoped that was the case. They were the only two who went to Endeavor, maybe the only ones who were recommended. They walked through the sliding glass doors, and Luffy looked around the busy lobby to see if he could see Ace, but he didn't. He put it out of his mind. He wasn't there to only be with Ace.

They walked through the bustling room and easily found Endeavor, since he wasn't exactly hard to miss. They both stood in front of him. Todoroki giving him a blank stare, challenging, and Luffy just standing there with a straight face.

"Shoto! You came, and Luffy, too. I had heard you transferred to a different school." Luffy nodded, but said UA was a lot better. "So you left U.A., tried some place else, and then came back?"

"No, I missed a lot of the first part of the semester due to health problems. I didn't like Shiketsu so I crammed and managed to be able to transfer back to U.A.," he said simply, to the point. Endeavor nodded, and didn't apologize. Well, Luffy wasn't expecting it anyway.

Todoroki made things even more awkward when he said he wasn't there as his kid, but to learn from a pro-hero." Luffy rocked back on his feet a little bit before the awkward moment passed, and Endeavor nodded. He walked them to his office, and asked for both of their contracts. He stamped them both, and then gave them back.

"This isn't a place to visit your brother, I hope you understand that." Luffy was surprised he knew about Ace and his relationship.

"I do. I came here because you are strong and Hawks thinks highly of you as a hero," Luffy replied honestly. Endeavor nodded, and stood up. He told them to get dressed and then meet him back there. He and Todoroki walked to the changing room. "I hope the whole week isn't going to be this awkward," Luffy said, closing his eyes to get his other glasses on and changing into his hero outfit. Todoroki's had changed and was more simple and nice to look at now. His other one, with half of it being made of ice, looked kind of… weird? But he hadn't said anything about it.

His friend said, "I can't promise that." Luffy knew that was the truth. They went back to Endeavor's office and he told them they were going on patrol. The first day, Luffy felt like an extra. He honestly didn't know why Endeavor offered him a spot when he didn't even look at him the whole time. He only was talking to Todoroki, who had told him to shut up a number of times.

It was extremely awkward, but he stayed quiet. He did tell them what would be useful things if Luffy didn't already know how to patrol, how to run a business, how to utilize sidekicks, how to choose higher ups in your agency. He really felt like he already knew all of this. That he'd been interning for many years already.

After all, he helped Hawks out a lot, carrying paperwork places, sending messages, going out on patrol. He knew all of this already. And it was boring. Boring as hell and awkward as hell. He wished he'd chosen somewhere else, truly. But there was no backing out now, the contract was signed even if Luffy wanted to just put some white-out over it and pretend Endeavor's name and stamp were never there.

The day passed slowly, and he went home dissatisfied, moping on the couch. Hawks walked in at dinner, and Luffy had already cooked it, and asked what was up with him. "I shouldn't have picked Endeavor's agency."

"Why?"

"All he did was argue with Todoroki and ignore me. Plus all the shit he told us was stuff I already knew. I should have chosen Thirteen or something," Luffy complained. Hawks pointed out he couldn't change it now. He got his food and said, "No use whining about it."

"I can whine if I want. Oh, and I made a terrible impression for you. I told him all the embarrassing things I know about you. And your Endeavor stuffed toy," Luffy said. Hawks threw a pillow at him, telling him shut it. He caught it and grumbled, "I hope tomorrow is more interesting," into the pillow.

-x-

The next day was a night patrol, something he'd done with Hawks, but not often. He mostly took nights off because he didn't like being a busy hero, so Luffy rarely went on night patrols. So it was already more interesting. They were in Hosu, which was a weird place to choose since there were a bunch of murders or attempted murders here. Were they planning on catching him or something?

The Endeavor agency wasn't anywhere near Hosu. Strange. Endeavor was giving them advice, stuff Luffy knew. He couldn't help it, he was spacing out. When he paid attention again, he noticed Todoroki was gone. "Uh, where did he go?" Luffy wondered aloud. Endeavor grunted a rude "what are you talking about?". "Todoroki is gone. I don't see him anywhere," Luffy pointed out.

Endeavor looked around, but didn't know where he was either. Luffy went to the nearest alleyway. "Todoroki?" he called. He had no idea where he went. Why didn't he say he was leaving? That was kind of rude, leaving Luffy alone with Endeavor. He flew up in the air to look only to see a fire in the distance and some monsters with exposed brains attacking people.

"Endeavor, there are monsters in that direction! And a fire!" Luffy said, flying down and then next to Endeavor as they hurried to the scene. There were two monsters attacking people. One of them going one way and another picking up and man and flying away with him. Luffy flew up to it and kicked it away, catching the man and putting him down, telling him to run. Endeavor was working on burning the other one while Luffy tried to hold off the flying one, being the only one able to fly in that area.

It screeched at him and tried to attack, but it wasn't as fast as Luffy. It grabbed his leg and snapped it, making Luffy grit his teeth but fly higher as it reformed and went back to normal. He dive bombed it, planting it into the road, hard. But it was just fine. It looked like it's body was really strong, and fire was doing nothing to the one Endeavor was attacking.

Blunt hits and burns don't hurt it, but it had eyes. And an exposed brain. Wouldn't the brain be sensitive? And blinding it might save some time unless it was regenerative. He dropped down and held it's neck down with his knee before grimacing and thrusting his hand into the brain as hard as he could, and making a fist and yanking out parts of the brain, along with the eyes so that it was only the bottom of a head left. For good measure, he stomped down on its head, crushing any brain matter left into mush.

He tried to get the brain off of his hand, disgusted. "Endeavor, go for the brain!" Luffy shouted. The pro-hero looked over and saw the mess that was the bloody and gooey hands and the nomu's empty skull. He leaned down and wiped his hand on the pant leg of the monster, backing away and then helping people run from the area before he ripped open the fire hydrant and pushed his hands on it at an angle so it put out the burning building's fire.

Todoroki had left his mind as he tried to help. Endeavor had listened to Luffy and grabbed the head with the exposed brain and blasted fire into it, melting the brain. But that one was a little harder to take down, its regenerative powers more than the other.

"I yanked the brain out! It couldn't regenerate!" Luffy called. Endeavor thrust his hot hand into the brain, and ripped it out. Luffy had rinsed his hands in the water coming from the hydrant. Endeavor did that same.

"Where the hell is Shoto?" the pro-hero demanded, angrily. Then he looked at Luffy and grudgingly said, "Good work. We know how to defeat these things." The fire of the building was out so Luffy shoved the hydrant back down so it plugged it. "Look for anything else amiss," Endeavor ordered. Luffy flew up in the air and found another mess a few streets down. Another monster was over there.

"Endeavor, there's another one that way!" Luffy shouted, pointing in the right direction. He flew there while Endeavor ran. Luffy perched on a building and watched the pro-hero interrupt an older hero fighting it, blasting it with fire. But he didn't waste time, blasting enough for it to pause and regenerate like that before stomping on its head and then ripping out the brain and two of the four eyes.

He looked at his hand in disgust but burnt it off. "Find Shoto!" Endeavor commanded. Luffy got up high in the sky and flew around the block, looking everywhere before he saw blasts of fire from an alleyway, and perched on the roof to see Todoroki and Midoriya fighting while Iida and another hero were injured. He saw who they were fighting and assumed it was Stain, since he had a lot of the weapons he was said to have, and it was Hosu, where recent attacks were.

Luffy said nothing, the best thing to do was get Endeavor. He flew back, but it was many streets over. "He and two other students are fighting a villain four streets over."

"WHAT?!"

"Let me fly you there, it will be quicker," Luffy said. "They look like they're having trouble." It looked like a wound to his pride, but he put his arm up and Luffy grabbed onto it before instantly flying him to the scene. He swooped down and picked up the injured one who couldn't move. He flew him to a group of other heroes, telling them that the man was injured.

He flew back and saw Iida on the ground as well. Endeavor was taking on Stain, Todoroki helping him with Midoriya frozen, too. He grabbed the immoblie Iida. "No!"

"Shut up, you're gonna be in enough trouble as it is! What are you thinking, fighting a villain that strong on your own?!" Luffy scolded angrily. "You're lucky I saw you guys! You could have died over there and nobody would have known!" Iida still didn't move, and he shouted at Luffy that it wasn't his problem.

"Do you reserve villains now?" Luffy questioned coldy. "Don't be selfish, Iida." He picked Iida up again and returned him to his hero trainer, dumping him and then flying back to assist Endeavor. He called a question of what to do. He was shouted at to get more pro-heroes and to call the police.

He zoomed away, collecting heroes that were no longer fighting the monsters, telling them that they knew where Stain was. He led all of the heroes to the area, and soon the police were there, too. Stain was being held down by Endeavor, many burns all over his body. He was handcuffed and taken away, Luffy perched on the roof and watching with a deep frown.

Once he was in the cop car, Endeavor started berating Todoroki for leaving, how Luffy had been a hundred times more helpful in the situation than he was. Luffy hoped this wouldn't upset Todoroki. He was just following orders of the hero he was working under for now.

Then he looked behind him and saw some suspicious looking guys standing on a water tower. He flew towards them, but before he got close, they disappeared in a purple mist. He stopped, staying in place before turning around and heading back to the scene. He dropped down and asked Midoriya and Todoroki if they were okay.

"We're fine. Just a little scratched up," Midoriya said. "Thanks for getting us help." Luffy nodded and said that Iida was really angry. "Let's not talk about that part. I think he wouldn't want it to spread around."

"Okay, but you guys should still all be checked out. If he cut you with dirty blades or ones already having been covered in blood, you could get sick," Luffy said in concern. They went to the ambulance to get checked up. Iida came later, looking ashamed and humiliated.

The group of students and Endeavor went to the station to be questioned, Luffy flying there. He honestly rarely ever used cars. He landed there and walked inside and waited in the lobby for the others to arrive. When they did, he was taken in for questioning about the situation, about the attack of the monsters, and when he found the students fighting Hero Killer Stain.

Luffy went into detail about ripping the brains from the monsters. It was disgusting, and he had washed his hands with soap and water five times in the bathroom, scrubbing. Then, he flew back to the agency for his things and then back home, Endeavor dismissing him and telling him he'd done well in that situation. It was the first time Endeavor had ever said something actually nice to him. Weird. He was still a jerk, though.

When he got home, it was really late and he flopped onto the couch. "Hawks, I did hero stuff! I killed a villain and helped some of my stupid friends," Luffy called, with Hawks in the laundry room. He hurried out and demanded to have details. "I was patrolling with Endeavor and Todoroki just vanished, but then I saw there were these two monsters attacking people. It was really gross, but the only way I could kill them was to rip out its exposed brain. I had brain goo on my hands," he said in disgust.

"Don't you dare cook me food with that hand."

"I washed it! Anyways, then I found my stupid friends fighting the Hero Killer by themselves! I evacuated this one guy bleeding on the ground and my other friend who was hurt, too. He had the nerve to tell me off for getting pro-hero help and saving his ass," Luffy said sourly. "At least Todoroki wasn't mad that I got help."

"Not bad, future-sidekick." Luffy grinned, saying it was more interesting than the day before. "No idea how you're going to top that interest wise." The teen nodded, agreeing. But he was excited he did something helpful. "You help me on patrols. You were just a hero this time," Hawks pointed out and then went back to doing the laundry.

It wasn't an hour later that there were viral videos of him and Endeavor fighting the monsters and Luffy putting the fire out. He wondered why someone would stay there, filming, with crazy monsters around. His face wasn't shown. And his wings looked black in the darkness. People were calling him a mystery hero, wanting to know who he was.

Of course, nobody would tell the press who he was. Except then somebody made the connection with another image of him with Hawks, and said it was the same person. Well, damn.

The next day, he had some attention about the night before, because he was very recognizable with his wings. It was awkward, and when people tried to get photos with him, and said he was interning and had to go.

"If you hadn't been so selfish and immature last night, you would be getting positive attention too," Endeavor said irritably. Luffy couldn't help it, he stepped in.

"Please, don't compare me to Todoroki like that." Endeavor looked down at him with a scowl. "We're friends, I don't want to be compared like that."

Todoroki stepped in and said, "Luffy, it's fine. He's right. I'm not angry with you." Luffy relaxed and nodded, becoming silent again. "You did the right thing last night, and I'm grateful you got us help." Luffy gave a small smile of relief and then nodded.

On his way out of the agency, he ran into Ace, who was grinning at him. They were both leaving at the same time. "I saw you online! You were so awesome. I was a bit disgusted by the whole ripping out brains part, though." Luffy agreed that it was disgusting, felt nasty.

"I've washed it over and over but it still is disgusting," Luffy admitted. He asked how he liked working with Endeavor. "Not much. I mean, he did praise me for my work last night, but otherwise he's cold, like he always has been." Ace looked confused. "I've been friends with his kid for seven years, and he never said anything nice to me during that time. All he'd ever told me was to go away."

Ace frowned. "He's not very nice, I agree. But working with him pays well." Luffy confessed that he felt he hadn't learned anything from him other than his own experience he had at Hosu the night before. He already knew everything from years of being with a pro-hero. Well, two more days and it was over and they got to go back. "Where will you go if there's a longer internship?"

"Hawks. I'm not going back to Endeavor. It's my goal to work as a sidekick for Hawks," Luffy said, sure he'd already said it. Ace nodded. "What is your goal? To be a sidekick?"

They were sitting at a bench now, people passing them. "My goal… I don't know. My goal was always to find you, I didn't think much ahead of that. Now that I've found you and you seem interested in having a relationship, I guess I have to come up with a new goal." Luffy gave a small smile. Ace's goal had always been to find his baby brother, nothing else was more important than that.

"Would you ever want to be a pro-hero?" Luffy wondered. Ace said he'd considered it, but for now he wanted to get a better feel of the country and it's hero society, since he hadn't lived in Japan for many years after being sent away. "I'm happy you came to find me. Knowing that someone from my family cares about me." Ace smiled and took his hand.

"You can talk to me about anything you want, okay? And I'll answer as soon as I can if you do message me," he said with a sincere smile. Luffy nodded, giving him a smile. There was no doubt in his mind that Ace was his brother even if he had no physical proof, like photos. And he had no doubt that he had good intentions.

"I should go so I can make dinner. I'll talk to you later," Luffy said. Ace wished him goodnight and Luffy put his backpack on and then flew home, feeling happy. Ace made him happy. He didn't know what he'd been missing until he had it.

He wished Hawks had family like that. He had no family. And that was very sad. Well, Luffy hoped he considered him as a family member. A good friend, at least. He flew back happily, enjoying the sunset right in front of him.

The internships ended and Luffy couldn't be happier. Being around Endeavor was exhausting, not pissing him off but also not ignoring him so he noticed. But Luffy didn't bring any complaints against him home, since Hawks had always admired him. He wouldn't mess that up.


End file.
